Intel’s upcoming Ivy Bridge chips may take longer to arrive than expected with industry gossips claiming that the chip giant is planning a soft start given the wads of inventory of Sandy Bridge parts level in the channel.
Sources quoted by the DigiTimes reckon that Intel is set to delay "mass shipments" of the new processors while maintaining the expected April launch. Volume shipments will not begin until after June, they claim.
The same voices within PC makers are apparently unconcerned with the late start given that the next big catalyst to drive consumer demand is the arrival of Windows 8 which is not expected until September or later. The weak economy and the lull before Windows 8 has fuelled the feeling that the first three quarters of this year would be a "dark period for the notebook industry."