In Brief Re-marked Intel Pentium M processors have turned up in China, the chip giant admitted this week.

However, the company maintained the number of dodgy chips in circulation is small.

According to an Intel spokeswoman, cited by IDG News, the chips are engineering samples sent out to Chinese PC makers. Somewhere in the supply chain, however, they were re-marked as consumer-ready product.

The spokeswoman said it had warned PC makers that sample CPUs are not to be resold, and advised end-users to ensure they buy from Intel-certified dealers if they are concerned about buying unauthorised product. ®