An article published by Digitimes claims that the shortage will be severe enough that Intel will not be able to "satisfy downstream PC vendors' strong demand."
The supply situation could ease in May and June when Intel will launch an addition 13 processor models. Intel launched 14 22nm Ivy Bridge processors today, nine i5 and versions, as well as five mobile CPUs, including the i7-3920XM Extreme Edition flagship. Intel was quick to label the report as false and stated that consumers can expect plenty of supply right out of the gate. Spokespeople referred to statements made by chief executive Paul Otellini and chief financial officer Stacy Smith during the Q1 conference call.
Smith said that the 22 nm yield curve is "consistent with expectations" and processor production is ramped in three different fabs. Intel expects greater production volume than with 32 nm as that process was only scaled up from two fabs initially. However, the company admitted that the launch of Ivy Bridge was delayed by three weeks "to make sure that there was enough inventory in the pipeline." In terms of supply, CEO Paul Otellini added that the first batch of Ivy bridge processors are only quad-cores and the "bulk of those are going into desktops."
Otellini noted that Ivy Bridge will be Intel's "fastest ramping product ever, comprising nearly 1/4 of our microprocessor volume in Q2 alone and crossing over 50% of [Intel's] microprocessor shipments this fall."
