Intel promises ‘Broadwell’-based PCs in stores by Christmas

Chief executive officer of Intel Corp. said in an interview that personal computers powered by the company’s next-generation code-named “Broadwell” central processing units would reach stores by Christmas, but may not be available during the back-to-school (BTS) season. The new processors will boost performance and cut-down power consumption of the upcoming personal computers.

“I can guarantee for holiday, and not at the last second of holiday,” said Bryan Krzanich, chief executive of Intel, in an interview with Reuters news-agency. “Back to school – that's a tight one. Back to school you have to really have it on-shelf in July, August. That's going to be tough.”

In August parents buy their children new personal computers. Sometimes businesses also acquire new PCs in August or September. The BTS season has provided minor sales bumps for PC makers in recent years. By contrast, November/December U.S. holiday season is generally considered as a major opportunity to sell new PCs. As a result, it is more important for computer makers as well as companies like Intel to ship new products in time for holidays, not the BTS season.

Intel Broadwell microprocessors resemble the current-generation code-named Haswell chips architecturally, but are made using thinner 14nm fabrication process. It is expected that the new central processing units will be able to achieve higher clock-rates and consume less power than existing offerings.

Last year Intel had to delay mass production of Broadwell chips because of insufficient yields. The company has fixed its 14nm fabrication process and is now satisfied with the yields.

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KitGuru Says: It will be interesting to see whether Intel’s partners will demonstrate Broadwell-based systems at Computex Taipei trade-show early next month. In case PC makers are on track with Broadwell-powered PCs in September, chances that such computers will be showcased in early June are fairly high.

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