Atom crunch to last until September?

Intel's existing Atom processor shortage could continue until as late as September, according to estimates made by ASUS chief Jerry Shen. While confirming that his company will announce an Atom-based version of its Eee PC 900 on schedule for June, Shen warns that Intel's shortfall will require that ASUS keep the existing Celeron M version on sale until the late summer timeframe to ensure healthy stock.

The low supply is enough of a problem that Intel is prioritizing major computer vendors over others, claim separate sources, though which manufacturers are involved besides ASUS are unknown. Acer and Dell are both known to be working on Atom-based micro notebooks, though Apple is also rumored to be developing UMPCs sometime this year that use Atom, though whether they may be impacted at all by the shortage is unclear.

Santa Clara, California-based Intel is reportedly hiking manufacturer prices for Atom chips to curb orders in the short term, but officially has denied any significant long-term issues and claims its production is "better than anticipated."

Filed under: computers, industry
Other story tags: Intel, Dell, ASUS, Eee PC, Atom, Acer