Intel has recently decided to cut the prices of a range of desktop chip models by 50% in response to the latest price drop of chips from its competitor, AMD.
The consequence of this decision is that in the coming months, the prices of desktop computers will significantly decrease. Processors have always been the most expensive component inside a PC, and both Intel and AMD have decided to lower the prices of some of their most powerful products.
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| Source: AP |
According to the new price list published on the company’s website, the price of the Pentium D 960 processor, with a speed of 3.6 GHz, has dropped from $530 in early June to just $316, a decline of over 40%.
Additionally, several models supporting hyper-threading in the Intel Pentium 4 family are also included in this price reduction. The 3.6 GHz version has been reduced by 54% to $183, while the 3.2 GHz model has seen a staggering 61% drop to $84. The cheapest is the 3 GHz version, which is now down 58% to $74.
Some laptop chips have also seen slight price reductions, but none exceed 1%. The prices of server and workstation chips remain unchanged.
Price War
Last Tuesday, right after the acquisition of ATI, AMD decided to “celebrate” by reducing the prices of several chips for desktops and laptops.
Specifically, the dual-core Athlon 64 X2 5000+ has dropped astonishingly from $696 in May to just $301. Additionally, the Athlon 64 X2 4600+ has decreased by 57% from $558 to $240.
Product pricing has become the latest weapon in the battle between Intel and AMD for market share in the processor industry.
Continuously over the past few quarters, AMD has gained significant ground on Intel by releasing several high-end chips. However, Intel has also made a strong comeback with many promising new products.
Yesterday (July 27), Intel announced the Core 2 Duo, a processor line considered “the most important in over a decade.” Ten new chip models from this line will gradually reach consumers starting in August.
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