Intel Corp has denied that its first IA-64 architecture chip, Merced, has been further delayed. The possibility of further delays arose because of comments made by Tikiri Wanduragala, IBM Corp’s Netfinity manager in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Speaking in London on Tuesday, Wanduragala said that IBM’s SCO- derived 64-bit Monterey Unix was scheduled to ship in tandem with Intel’s first delivery of Merced chips in the third quarter next year. However, he was unable to confirm whether IBM was still on track to receive its first samples of Merced in June of this year. It is currently still developing Monterey using 64-bit simulators, as are all other companies involved in the EPIC push. But, Chris Hogg, market development manager at Intel, denied that there would any further delays in the Merced program, saying that initial samples were still scheduled to hit the streets in mid 1999, with full production due in mid 2000.
