Windows 8 tablets that were set to be equipped with a new, energy-efficient chip from Intel (INTC) are reportedly being delayed until early 2013, according to Information Week. PC makers are said to be having trouble building drivers for the company’s dual-core Clover Trial Atom Z2760 processor, which was expected to help manufacturers compete with the iPad and several top-notch Android tablets in terms of performance and battery life.
Delays are said to be affecting Dell’s (DELL) Latitude 10 tablet, along with the HP (HPQ) Envy x2, the Asus (2357) VivoTab Smart and the Lenovo (LNVGY) ThinkPad Tablet 2. At this time, the only Windows 8 tablets shipping with the Atom Z2760 processor are the Samsung (005930) ATIV Smart PC and Acer (2353) Iconia W510.
The delay could drastically hurt PC makers, especially those that specialize in enterprise sales according to Cindy Shaw of research firm DISCERN.
“HP and Dell are conceding they’ve given up on the consumer, so missing the holiday season is not that big of a deal. They’re not missing that magical time of the year,” the analysts said. “But the longer it takes for businesses to get their hands on evaluation units, the longer it’s going to take to translate into enterprise sales.”
