Intel has confirmed that its Ivy Bridge 22nm processors have suffered a slip from their planned April launch, although the company isn't saying why.

According to a report from DigiTimes earlier this month, the delay is due to overstock of the current generation Sandy Bridge parts in the laptop channel. As a result, Intel is believed to be delaying the launch of Ivy Bridge to give its customers chance to deplete soon to be obsolete processor stocks.

Some in the industry believe otherwise, claiming that Intel is suffering yield problems with the new 22nm process size used in Ivy Bridge's construction. The company itself isn't saying either way, only confirming that there is a delay and that it could be June before the first chips start hitting the market.

Confusion appears to be the order of the day inside Intel at present. While Intel vice president Sean Maloney told the Financial Times that the chips would be delayed until June, others in the company have rubbished such claims. Speaking to CNET, Intel media relations manager Jon Carvill explained: 'Reports of an eight-week delay to the Ivy Bridge launch are inaccurate and our schedule has only been impacted by a few weeks.'

Note, however, that there's a distinct lack of a firm timescale in Carvill's statement. With his higher-ups suggesting that an eight-week delay might be on the cards after all, it's not looking good for early adopters eager to see what improvements a process size shrink brings to Intel's processing platforms.

Intel has, however, detailed plans to boost manufacturing volumes once the chips finally start rolling off the production line. Compared to Sandy Bridge over the same period, the company aims to produce 50 per cent more Ivy Bridge units during the first two quarters of production. Whether this will help to alleviate Intel's customers' displeasure with the delay, however, remains to be seen.