Exponential Technology Inc’s X704 PowerPC clone looks as if it is going to be a very big disappointment. According to the Wall Street Journal, the company is now saying that its first prototypes run more slowly than originally expected, and that company won’t hit its target speed for the chips until the second half of the year, by when the fastest of the new PowerPCs should be snapping at its heels. Exponential, part-owned by Apple, will make its first chip shipments this quarter as planned, but the chips will run at speeds below 500MHz, less than the 533MHz that the company originally predicted.