We'd heard rumors earlier this month that Intel would be pushing back the release of its new Ivy Bridge processors, and now the company's executive vice-president has confirmed the delay. Speaking to the Financial Times, Intel's Sean Maloney stated that the new processors — whose mobile versions were expected to ship as early as April — were being pushed back, and that when it came to new release dates, "I think maybe it's June now." While earlier suggestions had been that the company was making the delay merely to clear out existing stock of the current-generation Sandy Bridge line, Maloney indicated that the shift was actually due to the manufacturing process used (Ivy Bridge chips utilize a 22nm process, rather than the 32nm used in Sandy Bridge). To be fair, Intel has always officially stated that the chips would ship in the second quarter of 2012, and a June release would sneak in just under the wire. Whether the delay is cause for concern over future Ivy Bridge chip yields, however, remains to be seen.

Update: It appears Intel didn't like the inference that it was having issues with Ivy Bridge. A spokesman reached out to CNET to clarify that Intel's schedule "has only been impacted by a few weeks," and that the company expects to ship over 50 percent more Ivy Bridge units in the first two quarters of availability than it did with the Sandy Bridge line.