Shares of Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) have been halted after the company announced that it has discovered a design issue in a recently released chip, the Intel® 6 Series, code-named Cougar Point, and has implemented a silicon fix. The company expects to begin delivering the updated version of the chipset to customers in late February and expects full volume recovery in April. Intel says that the systems with the affected support chips have only been shipping since January 9th and they believe that relatively few consumers are impacted by this issue. As a result of this fix, Intel expects Q1 revenue to be reduced by $300 million. Full-year sales are not expected to be materially affected. Total cost to repair and replace affected materials and systems in the market is estimated to be $700 million. Intel also says that a charge against costs of good sold will lower Q4 gross margins by 4% from previously reported 67.5%. The company will also take a charge in the Q1 2011 which will lower gross margin by 2% and the full-year gross margin percentage by one percentage point.