Ars Technica reports that AMD has decided to delay two of its upcoming quad-core Phenom desktop processors, the 2.4GHz 9700 and the 2.6GHz 9900, from a first quarter 2008 release until sometime in the second quarter:

It's not clear yet whether the delay of the Phenom 9700 and 9900 correspond to a delay with AMD's B3 stepping. Presumably B3-intended to fix the Phenom's much-publicized TLB erratum-is still on track and AMD is simply waiting for it to be ready before it launches new Phenom speed grades. The alternative would be to ship B2 9700/9900 parts almost immediately followed by B3 9700/9900 parts, which wouldn't make much sense for any company. Rumors have also surfaced that the company won't ship 45nm parts in volume until early 2009. AMD stated at its financial analyst day in December that it intended to ship 45nm parts within 12 months, but the conversion of Fab 30 (currently at 65nm/90nm) to Fab 38 (at 45nm) has only just begun. The company's next-generation 45nm Shanghai core also has not been built on silicon yet.  With no new Phenom parts shipping until Q2, AMD plans to spend Q1 focusing on the launch of its tri-core "Toliman" processors. Without more information on pricing and clockspeed, it's hard to predict what impact, if any, these upcoming chips will have on AMD's market position. Toliman could potentially be an enticing upgrade path for K8 owners on Socket AM2, especially if the new CPU line debuts at dual-core price points.