“In another embarrassing about-face, No. 1 chipmaker Intel (INTC) told customers Thursday that it will not make a much-touted 4-gigahertz version of its Pentium 4 PC processor.

“The long-promised chip was supposed to power the fastest-ever generation of Intel-based PCs early next year. Instead, Intel will release another chip that has fewer gigahertz but is made faster in other ways. PC users shouldn’t be able to tell the difference, Intel says.

“But the public change of tune hints at more problems at Intel, which has struggled with production and inventory. “It’s another in a series of eye-opening acknowledgments,” says equity analyst Rick Whittington at Caris & Co.

“Intel shares fell 2% to $20.51 Thursday.”

[Read the full USA Today article here.]