This Reuters report indicates that IBM's new 3 billion microchip factory is having production problems.
It's unclear if this affects PowerPC 970 production.
It's unclear if this affects PowerPC 970 production.
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IBM Fishkill Plant with Problems?
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Don't kill me here . . .
. . . but I believe the article was referring to economic problems rather than production problems. i.e., not making a profit.
Anyone care to correct me? This may not even be the article that I read on the matter earlier today, but I'm assuming it is.
edit -- erp, did I misread something? Time for sleep!
edit 2-- ok, I swear the article was different when I read it early this afternoon . . .
. . . but I believe the article was referring to economic problems rather than production problems. i.e., not making a profit.
Anyone care to correct me? This may not even be the article that I read on the matter earlier today, but I'm assuming it is.
edit -- erp, did I misread something? Time for sleep!
edit 2-- ok, I swear the article was different when I read it early this afternoon . . .
From sidebar of http://www.apple.com/g5/ibmprocess.html
At IBMs state-of-the-art 300-mm chip fabrication facility in East Fishkill, NY, front opening unified pods (FOUP) hold silicon wafers during various stages in a weeks-long process.
Also, Steve said that this is where the chips were made in his keynote. 
If the G5 towers aren't shipped in late August/September, heads will roll. I don't even want to imagine what would happen if Steve announced a delay until December or something.
*knock on wood*
If the G5 towers aren't shipped in late August/September, heads will roll.
I don't even want to imagine what would happen if Steve announced a delay until December or something.*knock on wood*
Re: Don't kill me here . . .
The quote is: "...International Business Machines Corp. on Wednesday cited production problems at the gleaming chip plant in East Fishkill, New York..."
I think that means production problems. At the risk of stating the *way* too obvious... this could be a very bad thing for Apple. Not good to hype the fastest personal computer on the planet, and then not be able to deliver them in mass quatities. I hope this refers to past production problems that have since been ironed out.
The quote is: "...International Business Machines Corp. on Wednesday cited production problems at the gleaming chip plant in East Fishkill, New York..."
I think that means production problems. At the risk of stating the *way* too obvious... this could be a very bad thing for Apple. Not good to hype the fastest personal computer on the planet, and then not be able to deliver them in mass quatities. I hope this refers to past production problems that have since been ironed out.
G5 shipping dates upgraded
I think its worth mentioning that my order of a dual G5 was originally scheduled to be delivered "on or before" september 2nd. A few days ago that was quietly changed to August 29th instead of Sept 2nd.
There isn't much difference between those two dates, but it seems unlikely they would go to the trouble to change the shipping date to earlier if they were expecting production problems.
We'll see, but this is only one article and I'd bet this fab is used for more than just 970 production (POWER 4 AND 5s??).
I think its worth mentioning that my order of a dual G5 was originally scheduled to be delivered "on or before" september 2nd. A few days ago that was quietly changed to August 29th instead of Sept 2nd.
There isn't much difference between those two dates, but it seems unlikely they would go to the trouble to change the shipping date to earlier if they were expecting production problems.
We'll see, but this is only one article and I'd bet this fab is used for more than just 970 production (POWER 4 AND 5s??).
In an related announcment Apple informs customers who pre-ordered their G5 towers, about revised specs on the following:
Dual G5 2 Ghz-> Dual G5 1.8 Ghz
Single G5 1.8 Ghz -> Single G5 1.6 Ghz
Single G5 1.6 Ghz -> Single G5 1.4 Ghz
Shipment date late september-early october, no price changes.
Dual G5 2 Ghz-> Dual G5 1.8 Ghz
Single G5 1.8 Ghz -> Single G5 1.6 Ghz
Single G5 1.6 Ghz -> Single G5 1.4 Ghz
Shipment date late september-early october, no price changes.
Originally posted by BostonMJH
If this is true.
Apple
IBM
MOTO
Intel/Microsoft
a) how is this anyones fault?
b) why smile at Moto, they STILL can't make the G4 a good chip, max at 1.42 overclocked where as G5 = max 2.0 not overclocked
And this is GOOD for Intel?
Wtf!
I think he means that Apple will be mad, rather than him being mad at Apple, and so on. That's how I interpreted it anyway.
The situation at the IBM Fishkill plant is that there are some manufacturing problems, but these will be fixed in the future.
This is also IBM's first attemt to manufacture chips for other companies, therefore there is a lot of room for improvement.
The economic state is contributing to the problems in the facility because the plant is currently being underused. When the economy picks up, the plant will gain more efficiency and that translates into profit.
IMO, this could mean that Apple would order more PowerPC 970's aka the G5 from IBM so that the Fishkill plant can be more efficient and make a profit. We mac users would then receive lots of G5-based systems. Imagine that, an iBook G5... I should stop before I druel to death. This is, of cource, just an opinion.
This is also IBM's first attemt to manufacture chips for other companies, therefore there is a lot of room for improvement.
The economic state is contributing to the problems in the facility because the plant is currently being underused. When the economy picks up, the plant will gain more efficiency and that translates into profit.
IMO, this could mean that Apple would order more PowerPC 970's aka the G5 from IBM so that the Fishkill plant can be more efficient and make a profit. We mac users would then receive lots of G5-based systems. Imagine that, an iBook G5...
I should stop before I druel to death. This is, of cource, just an opinion.Wait a minute
This doesn't mean anything yet. For all we know the problem is fixed. If not, we don't know the extent of it. If we did, we might be........ informed!
This rumour is getting is getting a life of its own... it's time for fish kill!
This doesn't mean anything yet. For all we know the problem is fixed. If not, we don't know the extent of it. If we did, we might be........ informed!
This rumour is getting is getting a life of its own... it's time for fish kill!
I think you guys are taking "production problems" in the wrong way. This is business talk that refers to the "entire" process of production, which includes the economics of that production as well. I think this is what they are referring to, as in they aren't meeting their scheduled ROI, which is a result of the economy not giving them a chance to fully utilize the plant. IMO, this isn't anything to get your panties all uptight about.