I wouldnever believe that Intel couldn't keep up with demand.
Somehow, Intel, the largest chip manufacturer on the face of the earth, has run out of fab space in all of its 8-inch (200 mm) and 12-inch (300 mm) fabs. Previously it was reported that Intel was short on 865 and 845 chipsets, which is now confirmed to be caused by this shortage of fab capacity at Intel. This news, along with other news such as TSMC's expectations of full fab utilization, bode well for the semiconductor industry, because presumably somebody is buying all these chips. This is truly a remarkable occasion, as Intel is the largest chip vendor in the world and even it is not able to meet demand. The increase in demand could be caused by computer system manufacturers, such as Dell and Gateway, building stockpiles in anticipation of the "back-to-school" season, so it is possible that the demand will lessen in the next couple of months. Increasing fab space is a very long, difficult, and expensive process, though, and Intel may not be capable of expanding its facilities by the holiday season, which should also see a spike in demand, and which may yet again max out Intel's production capacity ... but then Intel has half a year to build a stockpile in anticipation of that event.
Maybe Intel can outsource some work to AMD.
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