Intel's Atom Chip Faces Supply Squeeze

SAN FRANCISCO - The newest member of Intel's(INTC Quote) chip family, the low-cost Atom processor, hasn't begun shipping, yet there may not be enough of them.

Computer makers, who want Intel's new microprocessor for a nascent breed of low-cost, extra-small notebooks, are predicting that there won't be enough Atom processors to go around when it becomes available later this year.

"We will see a severe shortage in Atom processors that will last well into the third quarter," said Asustek CEO Jerry Shen during a conference call discussing the Taiwanese firm's first-quarter financial results, according to news reports. ...