Intel already shipped thousands of 32nm CPU samples

“Our 32nm process is very healthy and shows great promise for us. This is the reason we recently announced a $7.0 billion investment in plants and equipment to accelerate high volume deployment of this technology,” noted Otellini. “We have pulled in Westmere, our fist 32nm product family, and will now be shipping those products later this year. We have shipped thousands of Westmere samples to over 30 EOM customers already.”

Although fab utilization rates fell in Q1, executives noted in the conference call that utilization rates would trend upwards as demand returned and the 32nm ramp gather pace. Expenses for the ramp are expected to peak in 2Q, Intel said.