Intel has a lot riding on the success of its next-generation Xeon Scalable processor family codenamed Sapphire Rapids. The chips are the company's first with support for DDR5, high bandwidth memory (HBM), PCIe Gen. 5.0, and the Compute Express Link (CXL) standards. And like so many recent Intel products, it’s already delayed.

In a status update for the upcoming processor family this week, Lisa Spelman, VP and GM of Intel’s Xeon and Memory Group, wrote that “given the breadth of enhancements in Sapphire Rapids, we are incorporating additional validation time prior to the production release.” And as a result, Intel pushed production back to the first quarter of 2022.

Intel’s roadmap previously had Sapphire Rapids slated for release in the fourth quarter of 2021, an Intel spokesperson noted. And Intel’s CEO Pat Gelsinger, who re-joined Intel in February, hinted at the delay during the company’s Q1 earnings call.

Sapphire Rapids is an important launch for Intel on multiple levels. Despite the delay, Intel is still on track to beat rival AMD to DDR5, PCIe Gen 5.0, and CXL. AMD isn't slated to launch its Zen 4 architecture, which adds support for many of these technologies, until late 2022. Additionally, Intel's upcoming chips will feature a new microarchitecture and transistor design built on its SuperFin technology announced last summer. Intel claims the new transistor technology could boost the performance of its 10nm processors up to 20%.

Another important feature is support for on-die HBM memory, which while common in GPU architectures is relatively new when it comes to CPUs. Intel claims the onboard memory dramatically improves performance for memory-sensitive applications.

It should be noted that the delay is far less severe than the one experienced by Intel’s 7-nanometer manufacturing process — codenamed Granite Rapids — which, due to a manufacturing defect discovered last summer, was delayed until 2023.

In fact, early-access samples of Sapphire Rapids chips are already in the hands of select customers for validation, an Intel spokesperson confirmed.

The delay came as no surprise to Baron Fung, research director at Dell'Oro Group. “I had assumed that Sapphire Rapids would probably ship in the 2022 timeframe,” he said. “Also, even though a new CPU platform starts shipping, it normally takes a while to see full production ramp.”

However, unlike Intel’s Ice Lake generation, Fung expects to see much faster adoption of Intel’s Sapphire Rapid chips when they become available next year.

“It appears that customers are more likely to skip IceLake and wait for Sapphire Rapids instead,” he said. “Sapphire Rapids has some nice improvements over Ice Lake, notably CXL, PCIe 5.0, and DDR5, which I think any customers would want to wait for.”

While this could postpose enterprise server refresh plans further, Fung noted that due to supply chain constraints elsewhere in the semiconductor market, “the delay may not be so dire. It’s possible the supply situation could ease up later this year when Sapphire Rapids starts to ramp.”

However, the brunt of the delay will likely impact enterprises more so than hyperscale customers. “As we know, hyperscalers don’t necessarily wait for the new CPU platforms to arrive, but instead they expand server capacity based on their demand requirements,” Fung said.

The past year has been a tumultuous one for Intel as it has grappled with growing competition from rival AMD, multiple executive shakeups, and high-profile departures.

The delay to its 7-nanometer manufacturing process last summer sparked Venkata Renduchintala’s sudden departure from the company. Renduchintala joined Intel in 2015 where he served as chief engineering officer and group president of the Technology, Systems Architecture, and Client Group (TSCG). His team developed the core technologies at the heart of Intel’s product lines.

However, his departure was far from the last. Six months later, Intel ousted then-CEO Bob Swan after two years on the job and several difficult quarters. The company brought back 30-year Intel veteran and former VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger in late January.

Gelsinger wasted little time imparting his influence on the faltering company, and in March announced Intel would open its foundry business to third-party contractors just as a semiconductor shortage gripped the globe. More recently, Gelsinger gave his executive staff another hard shake, announcing the departure of longtime executive Navin Shenoy and the hire of former VMware confidant Greg Lavender as CTO.