Wie de eerdere artikelen over de achterlopende ontwikkeling van de Itanium heeft gelezen, zal het geen verassing vinden dat Intel vandaag heeft aangekondigd dat de release van de Itanium wederom gedelayed wordt (oorspronkelijk had deze processor in 1997 op de markt moeten komen). Volgens Intel is de huidige Itanium stepping niet voldoende uit ontwikkeld om in massa produktie te gaan. Berichten van Itanium hardware en software developers geven aan dat de snelste testsystemen momenteel op 600MHz draaien, wat nog steeds ver onder de beoogde introductie snelheid van 733MHz is:
Intel said it won't start receiving revenue from the Itanium chip, the company's first 64-bit processor, until the fourth quarter of this year. The company earlier expected revenue to begin in the third quarter.
In addition, the only computers using the chip to ship this year will be "pilot systems," and the general availability will encroach even further on Itanium's successor, code-named McKinley and due to arrive in the second half of 2001.
[...] The revision to the Itanium will take the form of a new "stepping," a modification to the chip design, Kircos said.
The chip currently is in its "b" series of steppings, a source familiar with the chip said. Currently there are about 15,000 Itaniums in 5,000 systems in the hands of software and hardware designers, he said.