| It is in this context that we learned this week of an internal memo from CEO Craig Barrett to all Intel employees, in which they were told that recent performance - in terms of product delivery - was not good enough and that things had to improve. The memo, which was leaked to Reuters, revealed that Barrett had spoken 'bluntly and directly' with senior mangers about how there should be no excuses for recent problems. 'In the end reasons don't matter because the result is less-satisfied customers and a less-successful Intel,' he wrote in the memo that was dated 21 July. 'It is critical,' he went on, 'that everyone - beginning with senior management but extending to all of you - focus intensely on actions and attitudes that will continue Intel's strong track record of technology leadership.' | 
Intel has admitted that it will miss its year-end target for Pentium 4 processors to hit the 4GHz mark. It now appears that early 2005 is the date for this desktop clocking milestone. The announcement is further bad news for the chip giant in what has been a rather rocky (although still profitable) year. Other roadmap derailments have included the much-delayed 90nm Pentium-M (the second-gen core Dothan, which appeared in May), and the recent delay of the Alviso notebook chipset, which has hit the launch of its next-generation Centrino mobile platform, codenamed Sonoma (put back to the start of 2005), scuppering plans for a pre-Christmas launch. Not forgettingthe manufacturing problems, and a minor product recall experienced with the much heralded Grantsdale chipset (Intel's third-generation desktop graphics core).