Intel's shift to what has been hailed as a revolutionary new manufacturing process has been hampered by technical problems. The result yesterday was a $4 (€3.85) decline in the share price to $54.

The release of Intel's mobile Pentium III processor, codenamed Coppermine, has been delayed for two months to November. Intel has notified its customers of the hitch. The chip is expected to ship at speeds of 600 megahertz. However, Intel has confirmed it has had trouble adapting its equipment to handle processors with smaller wiring.

A spokesman for Intel Ireland, where 4,100 people are employed, said this is not the first time Intel has slipped its schedule, and the Coppermine chip would only account for a small percentage of Intel's total chip output.

"We are sticking to our roadmap, and nothing that happens today is going to change that. We will continue with our plans to move into .18 and .13 micron processes, and continue to invest hundreds of millions of Irish pounds, and take on an extra 900 to 1,000 people to do that," the spokesman said.

Intel has said the delay won't affect earnings because it plans to produce a similar chip using .25 micron technology before September.