Intel announced today that the Camino will be delayed indefinitely, as the company has determined that the product is not ready for use. An Intel spokesman said that bugs were discovered in validation tests when the chip set was used in some configurations that utilized all three memory expansion slots that Camino was designed to support. Intel is working to validate a two-slot version of the product, but so far the company has yet to determine the exact cause of the problems.

Reports surfaced late last week that PC OEMs were encountering problems with the Camino, and Intel and its customers may be forced to scrap products that have already been produced. The chip set had been scheduled for official launch today (Sept. 27), and numerous PC companies were expected to announce RDRAM-based systems based on the chip set at the same time.

"Our engineers have determined that the 820 platform is not now production-quality ready," said a spokesman for Dell Computer Corp. (Round Rock, Texas). He said the bugs were discovered "very recently," and Dell has been in extensive discussions with Intel this past week.

Rambus Inc. share prices have slid dramatically in the past few days. The stock was down more than 13 percent mid-morning today, after falling some 19 percent Friday to $71.12. Also Friday, BancBoston Robertson Stephens analyst Dan Niles cut his rating on the company to "long-term attractive" from a "buy" rating. Niles was concerned that system OEMs would be slow to adopt the technology.

Analyst Peter Glaskowsky of Microdesign Resources said that Intel had acknowledged the problem to him last Thursday.

The issue involves how a system's memory slots interface with the rest of the motherboard. Rambus' design allows for each of the three slots to hold a module containing up to 32 chips each. A typical OEM strategy has been to put all three slots on a motherboard but to fill only one, thereby leaving space for expansion.

But the third slot in some cases behaves unreliably, even if it's empty. "Intel basically had to advise [PC OEMs] they can't use all three slots," Glaskowsky said. "It's my understanding they can't ship motherboards they've already manufactured." Though the problem can occur even if the third slot is empty, it is "probably worst in the more heavily loaded configurations," he said.

In scratching their existing motherboards, OEMs face a delay of at least one month, "if not two or three," before Rambus-laden systems can debut, Glaskowsky said.

The Dell spokesman said he was unsure if the problem can be fixed in systems that have already been built. "We are waiting for Intel to advise us of any potential workarounds," he said. At this point the company is uncertain whether those machines can be salvaged, or if they are destined for the scrap heap. Intel also has moved into production on the chip set, but the Intel spokesman noted that the chips had not yet moved into "high-volume production."

In the meantime, the glitch is certain to delay the rollout of Rambus memory. "We will not introduce any systems until we feel they are production-ready," said the Dell spokesman. "We are relying on our chip set vendor to provide the components."

"This is definitely something Intel would not want to happen," said George Iwanyc, memory analyst at Dataquest Inc. (San Jose, Calif.). "Right now is pretty much when this needs to come out in order to get RDRAM systems on the shelves this year. Once you start missing milestones, it pushes everything back. If you give alternative technologies more time to catch on, they just might catch on."

This is the second time that Intel has been forced to delay the Camino rollout. The product was originally expected in the spring, but the company announced in February that it was delaying the launch until September.