Intel has denied claims that the development of its 65nm chip fabrication process has fallen behind schedule.

According to market watcher In-Stat/MDR analyst Jim McGregor, the chip giant has "quietly pushed out manufacturing on 65nm [to] 2006". What McGregor called "challenging industry conditions" could see the process' ramp fall back to "mid-2006 or later", Silicon Strategies reports (http://www.siliconstrategies.com/article/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=PXRRAEPQ2UHAMQSNDBCCKH0CJUMEKJVN?articleId=52600550).

But an Intel spokeswoman denied the allegation: "We did not push out our roadmap. Our 65nm process technology will be ready in 2005. High-volume products will ship in 2006."

In August this year, Intel said it expects to debut 65nm parts in 2005 (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/08/31/intel_65nm/), but admitted that volume production was unlikely to take place before the very end of next year - into 2006, in other words. ®

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