A shortage of the latest Intel laptop PC microprocessors worsened in April, but the chip giant says it will meet demand by the end of this quarter. The shortfall comes at a bad time for PC vendors because laptops have been selling briskly so far this year, and analysts say the shortage has likely caused some companies to delay the rollout of new models.
The shortage involves the same chips analysts and companies fretted about last month, Intel's Arrandale laptop microprocessors, including some Core i3 and Core i5 chips.
Analysts say strong demand is more to blame than Intel for the shortage. Intel had planned to start shipping the new Arrandale chips in the first quarter, normally a slow time for PC sales because consumers in the West ease back on purchases after the holidays. But this year, demand was far more robust than normal.
