Intel announced on Monday that a design flaw could cause the serial-ATA (SATA) ports within the Sandy Bridge chipset to degrade over time which would affect the performance of a PC’s hard disk drive and DVD drive.
Intel has sent an email to system manufacturers recommending that they stop building and shipping Sandy Bridge-based systems until the new chipsets are available.
Retailers and computer makers didn’t start offering the first systems until early January, so the majority of the tainted chipsets are still in the factories of system and motherboard makers this means there is much more likely to be a series of delays rather than recalls.
One computer maker undecided over what to do next is Dell, which said it was talking to Intel about the design flaw. Products affected include the XPS 8300, the Vostro 460, the Alienware M17x R.3, and the Alienware Aurora R.3. Those products were not available on Dell’s site Tuesday.
“We’re committed to addressing this with customers who have already purchased one of the four products and will provide further details on this as it becomes available,” Dell said.
The current fiasco has been compared to a 1994 incident when Intel discovered a flaw in its Pentium processor and lost $475 million as a result. The latest problem is expected to reduce the company’s revenue by $300 million in the current quarter, with the overall cost to repair and replace the flawed products is estimated at $700 million.
Silly Intel.
Source: Information week