Initially scheduled for 31 July, this delay has now been extended by several weeks. The new launch dates for the Ryzen 7 9700X and Ryzen 5 9600X are 8 August and 15 August, respectively, for the higher-end Ryzen 9 9950X and Ryzen 9 9900X.

While there might have been fears that a technical reason might be the cause of the issue, an image of a mislabeled Ryzen processor has tipped up online, showing that the primary reason for this delay was a simple one-digit typo.

An unsanctioned review posted on BiliBili revealed that AMD's Ryzen 7 9700X was incorrectly marked as a Ryzen 9 9700X. This error and similar mismarking on Ryzen 5 9600X models necessitated a recall of all shipped processors to correct the erroneous labels.

AMD has identified the recalling and re-screening process of these chips as the cause of the delay. The company has confirmed that all Ryzen 9000 units delivered to retailers and OEMs worldwide have been pulled back for re-screening. This process, known as 'silk screening,' involves laser-etching or printing the correct chip markings.

In an official statement, AMD acknowledged the issue: "We identified an issue with our packaged product testing process for Ryzen 9000 series processors that could result in a small number of parts reaching the market that do not meet our quality standards." While the erroneous markings contribute, other issues may also be at play.

AMD representatives have not provided further comments beyond the initial announcement, and it remains unclear whether all shipped units are affected by the erroneous markings or only specific batches. However, the number of impacted units appears significant enough to have contributed to the delayed launch schedule.

In hindsight, there may have been early signs of a problem with AMD's chip printing presses. Images from AMD's Zen 5 Tech Day show non-standard spacing between the words in the model name of a demo Ryzen 9 9950X, suggesting potential issues with the marking scheme.