Infineon blamed for Xbox shortage fiasco

GERMAN chipmaker Infineon has been named as the culprit for Microsoft's inability to supply enough Xbox 360s.

On Monday we reported that Microsoft admitted that it had sorted out component problems that had led to the shortages and said that there would be enough Xboxes in the stores in four to six weeks. Vole refused to say which supplier was responsible.

Now hacks at Mercury News have identified Infineon as the outfit responsible for the shortage. It cites off the record Vole people as complaining that Infineon had trouble making enough of the chips at the right speed for the 360.

When the GDDR3 (graphics double data rate) memory chips arrived at Vole's assembly contractors, Wistron and Flextronics, some Infineon chips ran slower than 700-megahertz speed that was required. Wistron and Flextronic wasted so much time sorting good chips from bad chips it didn't have enough time to make enough consoles.

Infineon has declined to comment. µ