Intel cancels Pentium III supplies for February

Intel has told distributors across the world that it cannot supply Pentium III parts in February. One major European distributor told The Register today that it has lost its February backlog allocation of 15,000 Pentium IIIs. Each part would have been worth $150 to its bottom line. The European position was confirmed by an American distributor who said his February backlog had been cancelled too. Pentium III parts are -- he reckons -- being diverted to vendors in the Chip Direct programme. AMD's backlog on Athlon parts is still intact and it has no problems meeting dealer demand, according to a European distributor. The Pentium III shortage also begs questions about the company's public position on Slot One microprocessors and the flip chip parts the company is attempting to push into the market.®