Around this time last year Steve Jobs said that there will be a 3Ghz PowerPC in twelve months. Twelve months later IBM's PowerPC is only up to 2.5Ghz. Though this isn't the speed that Apple wanted it's still better than anything Motorola has been able to offer. IBM, Intel, and AMD are all having their problems with the jump from 130-nm to 90-nm. Of course each company is working on its own solution to overcome this problem.
Even the most ingenious chip designs can be undone by manufacturing problems: Consider IBM Corp.'s struggle to raise the megahertz ante for its PowerPC processors. The company has managed to keep delivering chips without major interruptions. Nevertheless, issues with two of its key clients point at problems manufacturing its chips at their rated speeds. The PowerPC chips that IBM supplies to Apple Computer Inc. are slower than Apple expected, and Nvidia Corp.'s GeForce 6800 card has yet to ship in appreciable quantities.
For its part, Somers, N.Y.-based IBM claims that it has weathered the transition from 130-nm to 90-nm as well as its competitors. That's at least partially true, even if it's faint praise: Advanced Micro Devices Inc., Intel Corp. and foundries such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. have all stumbled during transitions to new process technologies.
News source: eWeek
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