Analysts are getting a little tetchy over the delays to the release of the first AMD Fusion chip Ontario.

AMD CEO Dirk Meyer warned analysts that his company was changing the batting order on Fusion. The first chip would be Ontario, a low-power chip aimed at low-power netbooks and other small computers but it will
not be seen by the great unwashed until early in 2011. Llano, a mainstream chip aimed at both desktop and laptop computers, is being delayed "a couple of months".

The problem appears to be GlobalFoundries. AMD's manufacturing partner is having all sorts of troubles with its next-generation manufacturing process technology.According to the Statesman analysts are muttering that AMD could be shooting itself in the foot. It quotes Craig Berger, an analyst with FBR Capital Markets who thinks Ontario is not the high-impact chip that analysts hoped AMD would introduce first.While Intel is putting out phenomenal products right now AMD is not in
the ballpark on manufacturing process technology.

While it is doing that it ended up spending about $40 million more running its business in the latest quarter than it originally estimated. Roger Kay with Endpoint Technologies Associates said that AMD needs Fusion in the shop to give it a leg up against Intel. They will have better graphics than Intel and better computer processing than Nvidia. Jon Peddie, a graphics technology market analyst, still thinks that Fusion will be worth AMD's four-year wait, but Berger is less happy
about it.

He said that with Fusion AMD has a shot at becoming good again, but it is going to require them to pull finger.