Intel phasing out Z500 chips altogether soon?
updated 08:55 am EDT, Fri July 31, 2009
Intel Canceling Atom Z500
Intel may be shutting down production of its Z500-series Atom chips early, a source from the PC industry says. Unnamed contacts for DigiTimes say the processor developer won't accept any more orders "soon" and that the only processors it will ship past a certain point this year are from at least the three key supporters of Atom-based systems, namely Acer, ASUS and MSI. Supply of the Z500 line should stop altogether by the end of the year for everyone.
It's not clear if the list of companies allowed to keep using Z-series chips is complete, but if so it could pose significant problems for companies like Dell, which already use the Z series in the Inspiron Mini 10 and other important models. An early discontinuation would force these companies to either limit sales to models with the older N series, like the Mini 10v, or else to wait until the launch of Intel's next-generation Atom processors.
Those new chips, part of the Pine Trail platform, are due to get an unveiling in September and ship within the fall.
