HIGH TECHNOLOGY

Intel Halts Shipments of Chip: Intel Corp. has halted shipments of the high-end version of its 486 microprocessor to correct a problem that can cause computers to crash. Intel said a manufacturing problem that could cause the new 50-megahertz 486 chips to malfunction at high temperatures had eluded the company’s normal testing process, but the production and testing problems had been identified and shipments should resume by the end of this week. A number of companies are building personal computers that use the 50-megahertz 486, the fastest version of Intel’s family of computers-on-a-chip, but only 100 to 200 machines--from IBM and Dell Computer--have actually been sold to customers so far. Intel said volume shipments of the chip, originally scheduled for September, may now be delayed.