Channel grumbles over further AMD Barcelona delays

SYSTEM INTEGRATORS who were told to expect supplies of AMD Barcelona processors during mid-August said there's a hitch which is preventing AMD from delivering on its promises.

As we reported here in June, AMD Barcelonas will officially launch on the 10th of September. But the channel was promised 2GHz and 2.3GHz Barcelonas in August. Now they've been told that the only part widely available at launch will be at 1.9GHz.

So far AMD has not told the channel when it can expect deliveries of the higher speed parts, or when the backlog will clear.

It is the latest hitch in what's proved to be troubled waters for AMD's flagship microprocessor.

Last year, the channel was very disappointed with AMD allocating microprocessors to Dell while they were left with shortages and promises. It's not clear at press time whether the delays of Barcelonas are to do with technology problems, or whether the multinationals are getting preferential treatment over the channel. µ