[377] in OS/2_Discussion
IBM Press Release on Pentium
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (klund@MIT.EDU)
Tue Dec 13 11:56:56 1994
From: klund@MIT.EDU
Date: Tue, 13 Dec 94 11:55:43 -0500
To: os2announce@MIT.EDU
IBM Halts Shipments of Pentium-Based PCs Based on Company Research
December 12, 1994
IBM today announced it has stopped shipment of all IBM personal
computers based on the Intel Pentium(TM) microprocessor. The action
is based on tests conducted by the IBM Research Division stimulated
by growing customer concern that Pentium-related problems are more
frequent than previously estimated.
Results of IBM Research Division tests indicate that while Intel's
descriptions of the flaw are technically accurate, there are many
customer situations in which the risk of error may be significantly
higher.
IBM is working with customers on interim solutions and will resume
shipments upon customer and business partner request. Also, IBM is:
-- Sharing its analyses with customers and the industry on
the Internet.
-- Working with IBM customers to help guide them in their
own specific risk assessments.
-- Providing for replacement of flawed Pentium chips at no
cost to customers. This applies to all its Pentium-based PCs,
either those already installed or systems that will be shipped
prior to new chips being available.
-- Working with Intel to help resolve Pentium-related
problems as quickly as possible.
"We believe no one should have to wonder about the integrity of data
calculated on IBM PCs," said G. Richard Thoman, senior vice
president and group executive. "Many of our customers have indicated
concern since the Pentium flaw was disclosed. We've conducted our
own tests and concluded that the risk of error is significantly higher
than previously thought and warrants today's actions."
Intel has said that in purely random situations the likelihood of a
customer encountering an error is only once in 27,000 years and that
off-the-shelf software is not affected. However, IBM tests indicate
that common spreadsheet programs, recalculating for 15 minutes a day,
could produce Pentium-related errors as often as once every 24 days.
For a customer with 500 Pentium-based PCs, this could result in as
many as 20 mistakes a day.
Pentium-based systems currently shipped by IBM are the ValuePoint P60,
the IBM PC 300 P60 and 700 P90, the Aptiva 710 and 730 models and
IBM PC server models 85, 95, 300 and 500.
