Processors Toolkit

Apple G5 chips 'in short supply'

Tags:
G5,
IBM,
Apple

Graeme Wearden ZDNet.co.uk

Published: 18 Aug 2004 18:00 BST

Apple may be facing greater difficulties than previously thought in sourcing chips to power its high-end personal computers.

Financial firm Prudential Equity Group reported this week that the availability of G5 processors for Apple could be "worse than anticipated", according to a report on Forbes.

These chips are supplied by IBM and used in the PowerMac G5. They will also power the forthcoming iMac G5. Apple had previously said that 1.8GHz and 2.0GHz G5 chips would be in short supply in July, due to manufacturing problems at IBM, but that availability would recover in August.

"We now believe that IBM may be having difficulty meeting its revised supply commitments," said Prudential Equity Group, which reportedly fears that these additional delays could impact on Apple's future earnings if the launch of the iMac G5 is delayed.

Apple and IBM had both not responded to requests for comment at the time of writing.