Intel Ivy Bridge CPUs Delayed to June After All

Intel originally said it was going to ship Ivy Bridge CPUs in the second quarter of 2012, but where that used to mean April, it now means June, a recent report says. 

Anyone hoping to buy an Ivy Bridge central processing unit from Intel may want to shelve their craving for a few months. 

Even though the rumors about a chip delay had been supposedly debunked, they have proven to be true after all. 

According to company executive Sean Maloney, the Ivy Bridge CPUs have really been delayed to June, and the reason is not the one previously mentioned. 

It was believed that Intel merely wanted to give the Sandy Bridge collection more time to sell off. 

Now, though, the reason invoked is that the 22nm manufacturing process is proving troublesome, harming supply. 

After we first caught wind of the delay rumor, we asked the company if it was true, and the response we got basically said everything was still on track. 

It was even corroborated a few days later, when word came in about how Intel had only pushed back two of its units. Now, though, it looks like Intel was stretching the truth instead of denying difficulties. 

The company always held onto the guidance that the Ivy Bridge series would reach mass availability in the second quarter. Launching them in June is, technically, in line with it, though just barely. 

Perhaps that other rumor, about the units getting $60-70 / 45-53 Euro cheaper than initially intended, turns out to be true as well. 

If yields really are underwhelming, though, we won't risk too much of our hope on this. After all, troubled yields means lower CPU supply and low supply inevitably leads to price inflation. Waiting and seeing is the only thing anyone can do at this point.

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