Intel Arrandale shortages leading to premium prices, potential product delays
By Vlad Savov 
posted April 24th 2010 7:04AM
posted April 24th 2010 7:04AM
Well sure, you get paid more on a per-CPU basis, why wouldn't you be pleased? On a more serious note, during Intel's latest earnings call both Paul Otellini and CFO Stacy Smith expressed their surprise at the vast demand for their 32nm products, with Smith noting that their production of 32nm chips is the fastest ramping process in the company's history. So there's not really any villainy afoot here, just good old demand catching supply napping."We don't comment on speculation, what I can say is that we are pleased with the strong product demand for our laptop platforms."
Make the most of it Intel, AMD is going to kick your ass next year with Bulldozer, Bobcat and FUSION.
@guideXD I want to believe!
@guideXD
I doubt it, AMD has always been better about beating Intels prices though, I'd be glad to see AMD kick out a processor equal to the i7 but cheaper
@guideXD And I thought AMD fanboys didn't exist anymore.
@Yuu Sohgei Most of us converted.
@guideXD I hope you're right. Amd has been abysmal for the past few years. I normally prefer the "underdog" but I wouldn't buy any x86 chip that wasn't intel at the moment. Although I do wish I had held onto my AMD stock a little longer. Maybe it's time to sell the intel stock and reinvest in amd. I mean they're bound to turn around right? Actually arm seems the way to go but with the rumours about apple buying them, the price is probably artificially high now.
@Yuu Sohgei I made a good reply but engadget screwed me over with the email confirmation bug.
@tad604 Not ARM right now, Apple buyout has sent their stocks into a high float region but you never know, it may just stay that way considering it will eventually rival even Intel.
Better options would be Qualcomm or Texas Instruments.
@guideXD - I really, really hope you're right.
@Dysun : My guess is i7 is pretty marginal, the action is at the i3-i5 segment.
@guideXD
God I hope so. It may begin to look like the dark days of the mid-late 90s when Intel had a lock on performance and charged accordingly.
@guideXD I hope so. I missed the days of AMD and intel truly competing (we got the amazing Core Duo, Core 2, etc thanks to AMD competition). I've been seeing manufactures still selling old lineups with old Core 2 Duo chips (*cough*13" MBP*cough).
I'm still waiting for an i7 fully loaded desktop for $499.
@Yuu Sohgei Oh, you betcha. I scream from the rooftops about my Phenom II 555 BE unlocked to a Phenom X4 and overclocked to 3.8 GHz. i5's wilt in the face of my $90 quad-core.
@guideXD You, sir are so right that you're left. Intel's Core coup is over with next-gen AMD tech.
Maybe Apple could get the supplier of the "for display only" copies Newegg sold.
Hmmm. I was going to buy a new laptop with an i3 or i5 but maybe waiting a few months for suppy to catch up might be a better option.
Although saying that I'm not sure if it would make much difference to prices in store.
Shortages, or "shortages"?
Because you KNOW how THIS game goes.
@stridermt2k : Yes, people spouting off half-baked conspiracy theories of how you can make more money by not selling product you've already made.
@radarskiy Or basic economics. Monopolies can maximize revenue by artificially constraining supply.
Yea, wish AMD would get more in bed with other companies, don't need this monopoly running things!
Hm, I thought Apple's decision to not include a Core i5 on the 13-inch model was due to space and not wanting to rely only on the on-chip Intel HD graphics (something about it not being compatible with OpenCL).
Anyway, yes, "shortage" my ass, like we've never heard of fake shortages to drive up demand before.
New revisions of CPU's are always in short supply when they first roll out. Why would anyone be surprised by this?
@dicobalt Because they're not that new?
@dicobalt Intel's fabs have all the time in the world to improve semiconductor yields because they are pretty much a monopoly.
There is little space to argue that.
@Crsh
The chips have only been on sale since Jan 7th. Who knows how long they have actually been shipping. That's not very long to build up a supply on a new 32nm process that everyone wants instantly. These are CPU's not iPhones. They are just a bit more bleeding edge technology.
@dicobalt True, but these puppies have been shipping without any shortage issues since January, why is there suddenly a so-called shortage over three months later?
@Crsh
Demand has increased because highly available 45nm Core2's are being replaced with newer less available 32nm chips.
@guideXD the link between yields and monopoly is ... ?
@obarthelemy
Theoretically monopolies have huge production lines which they are able to streamline over time and become more efficient at producing units due to learning new techniques and improving upon existing techniques.
But then monopolies are monopolies so there isn't any real need to streamline processes as they have no competition :)
@obarthelemy
The comment above me is one part but there is also the factor that Intel had: all the time in the world to release the product.
Releasing dual core Nehalem chips to follow up quad core versions (Clarkdale, Arrandale) took how long exactly; Intel has all the time in the world to release it's products, it could have released i3 Q1 NEXT YEAR and still have beaten AMD in quarterly revenue.
In brief, why would they release 32nm CPU's (and don't forget the 6 core beasts, one released and one coming) if yields were apparently 'shit' effectively costing them more per CPU?
OR "MAYBE" It's just the unusually high Q1 demand on many technological products, but this would probably be subsidiary at most.
I don't see Lenovo/Dell/HP/Sony having ANY problems with the supply of 32nm chips.
This is just a case of Apple not ordering early and trying to sell clean their inventory of Core 2 Duos initially. Of course they get the shaft if anything happens- their own fault practically.
@Mikeo
Don't know about Dell/HP/Sony, but Lenovo is definitely having problems with some of their ThinkPad models. Specifically the i7 X201 and the whole X201 Tablet line. Both have disappeared from their US site over three weeks ago. They claim CPU shortages are the cause of this.
@Mr Blurrycam
Also Acer has shortages, i am waiting for the Acer Timeline X 3820 (13 inch i5 520 and ATI 5650) but they are delayed here in Europe and in US because of "shortages".
In other news, Singapore market is soaring with i3s and i5 laptops
that sounds about rifht. since we all know its all about profit with steve
This why the MacBook and Macbook Air and the Macbook Pro aren't being upgraded to Core i3, and why Steve may be looking for a partner ship with AMD... there are still delays of processor shipments.
I still believe the reason Apple didn't put an i3 or i5 in the updated 13" MBP is because of space constraints. Look at the mobo on that model and try to find some place to put another chip...
@MRCUR
Erm, how about in the same spot as the old chip?
The Core i3/5 would SAVE space if the integrated graphics were used.
@(Unverified)
Yes, but Apple doesn't want to use the integrated graphics, as it would be a significant setback in graphics power. The integrated graphics on the CPU is FAR less powerful than the 9400 used in the previous generation.
@(Unverified)
But they didn't want this generation 13" Macbook Pro to have a graphics chip that's actually worse compared to previous generation.
The Intel integrated lacks support for OpenCL aswell, and it's surely not ideal to have the MBP relying on it all the time, since they can't add a dedicated graphics chip on the side like on the 15 and 17" MBP.
@(Unverified) The Core i3/5/7 includes on-chip graphics (aka Intel HD graphics), but the PCIe/memory/etc controller is external for these mobile chips; Ars Technica's hypothesis is that CPU + southbridge controller + discreet GPU just wouldn't fit on the tiny 13-inch MBP motherboard.
Couple that with Apple not wanting to rely only on the Intel HD graphics and opting for using a discreet GPU (without removing other parts like the optical drive, etc), that's supposedly why the 13-inch model is still stuck with a Core 2 Duo CPU.
One thing that's slightly odd is that Sony managed to pack all that in their Z model, though. It may be not as thin, but it's no monster either.
@(Unverified) - Yes, only when the integrated graphics are used - which, as you may or may not know, Apple doesn't use. If you read Steve's response to someone asking about this, he says that Apple instead have users better battery life and kick-ass graphics compared to the Intel HD graphics.
So, my point still stands - there's no room.
@MRCUR look at sony and fujitsu they put a i7 and i5 in smaller laptops
@MRCUR Oh, enough with the space constraint excuse. Look at the 13" Sony Vaio Z, Core i7, discrete GPU, built-in optical drive, still 1" thick.
More reasonable explanation would be:
1. The current Core ix chips have higher TDP than the Core 2 Duo used. MBPs don't have as much holes as a typical Windows Laptop.
2. Price. Apple is all about higher margins.
3. This supply issue.
@pika2000 - Thanks for pointing that out, I hadn't noticed that before. I kinda want one of those Vaio's now...
Well maybe if AMD actually had a competitor to arrandale this problem wouldn't exist...
Hi :)
FUCK FUCK FUCK WHY NOW!
God dammit. I'm getting a laptop for college shortly and i want an i5. The i3 is too underpowered and the i7 is too expensive and too much of a power drain. I've been waiting out to *save* money. I don't want to be paying more now.
Fucking Macbooks. Blame it on Apple. It's *always* their fault. They ruin everything, lol. Seriously though, it's ironic that the shortage is related to them putting the new Macbook Pro line, and I'm *hardly* a Macbook fan.
@kenny goo - Why are you trying to blame Apple for this? They're LATE to the i5/i7 game. And their newest 13" MBP doesn't even use one of these CPUs.
There are always shortages when new CPUs launch, this one is just coming a little late in th cycle (given that these chips were launched in Jan).
@kenny goo I'm in the same boat and if this delays the acer timelinex series I might just get a sony z
@MRCUR
The whole use of asterisks to overemphasis words, the "lol", me starting the next sentence with "seriously though", and the general ridiculousness of me accusing Apple of causing a CPU shortage because they wanted to update their laptop line (which doesn't sell all that well in the large scheme of things) didn't tip off the fact that I was joking?
Really though, I was just being an ass. I don't seriously blame them for the shortage, especially given how they *just* started selling Pros with 2010 Cores and how the regular Macbook and Pro 13" line, the cheapest and probably most popular of the bunch don't even have 2010 Cores in them.