Intel Recalls New Chipset-Based Motherboards

VD writes "Intel Corp., world's largest chip maker, has made a serious mistake, which led the chip giant to recall its recently launched 925 and 915 chipset based motherboards. Intel reported the problem to be with the ICH6 and requested that motherboard makers recall their motherboards from the channel. The chip maker has agreed to pay compensation to motherboard makers for the losses." There's also a Reuters story as well.

Comments

Ouch!

[TheGavster]

Well, Rueter's made it sound like no big deal, but I think its a bit of a confidence killer. Looks how issues with a small subset of a product seem to taint it for life: overheating/crushable AMDs, P4s need super-expensive RAM, GeFroceFXs require a leafblower, etc. Release bugs seem to follow computer parts in spirit well after the flaw is corrected.

Re:Ouch!

[JAFSlashdotter]

But a quick, well handled recall is 1000% better than deny, deny, deny, deny... oh? oh yeah! we do have a problem!

Foolish AMD quote

[bender647]

Sources close to Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) stated that AMD will most likely benefit from this recall as it will gain trust from more consumers.

In general, a mistake by one competitor does not give me more trust in another. Less trust in the former, yes.

Re:Foolish AMD quote

[shird]

Well to be honest I put more trust in Intel after this incident. Afterall, they were quick to admit their mistake, and are prepared to compensate the manufacturers for any loss.

Id have a lot less trust if they tried to deny it for ages, until theyre eventually forced to admit the mistake and then not want to compensate people for their losses.

Of course, with the problem being that the motherboards prevent booting, I suspect its not something they could hide for long - so they really didnt have much choice.

hardware vs software..

[sucati]

It's ironic in that if Intel was a software (only) company, this probably wouldn't make a headline. If they were a software company, the customer would probably end up paying for the fix. You have to wonder what it would be like if software was developed and tested with the same rigor as hardware. Instead, software is often pushed out the door, chock full of bugs, and it's the customer who ultimately pays the price. Of course I'm generalizing, I understand there's plenty of quality software out there, but much more poor quality software. The obvious explanation is that software is of lesser quality because it can be; it can be patched, and with great efficiency these days via auto updates, whereas hardware doesn't afford the same benefit.

Re:Intentions?

[Timesprout]

We all know that Intel puts all their equipment through a strong Quality Assurance check. They run tests on computer equipment that others in manufacturing envy.

The first line you wrote pretty much negates all the drivel that follows it. You obviously have absolutely no idea how a manufacturing process works.

Intel needs to restructure their company.

Yes because they have been such a consistently pathetic failure over the last 10- 15 years.

all innovation in the CPU industry is put on hold until the market demands updates in speeds

The market constantly demands increases in speed as enterprise applications become more sophisticated and complex.

before we find an accounting error trying to sustain a broken company

One of the dumbest comments I have ever seen on /. Intel have been in a dream position for the last 20 years to make shedloads of money. They have consistently produced high quality minor engineering miracles used by 100's of millions of people daily. You try design and build a CPU rather than spout mindless, unsubstantiated drivel.

required actions don't demonstrate trustworthiness

[sacrilicious]

Well to be honest I put more trust in Intel after this incident. Afterall, they were quick to admit their mistake, and are prepared to compensate the manufacturers for any loss.

Of course, with the problem being that the motherboards prevent booting, I suspect its not something they could hide for long - so they really didnt have much choice.

I find the second point above weightier than the first. Intel was going to be found out about this rather quickly, so the best thing they could do for their own PR and their own bottom line was to neutralize this asap. IMO this doesn't really warrant "trust". They can't be counted on to avoid such huge mistakes to start with, nor is this evidence that they place the needs of partners or consumers above their own. Trust is a warm and fuzzy concept that I'm uncomfortable bestowing in response to coldly calculated bottom-line-driven strategic reactions to PR disasters.

What this demonstrates is soundness of strategy given that they find themselves in this pickle (of their own making) to start with. They've avoided the even bigger mistake of staying silent, and the redress they're offering to mobo manufacturers is likely to minimize the damage to their relationships with these parties.