Intel Price Cuts on the Horizon
As processors approach the 1-GHz barrier, prices will drop on Pentium IIIs.
by Dan Neel, Infoworld
December 7, 1999, 9:28 a.m. PT
Intel will soon be offering some post-holiday savings. As December comes to a close, the chip giant will begin making minor price reductions on its Pentium III family, and will begin to move all of its 0.25 chips toward retirement in January with broader price cuts, industry sources have reported.
"We normally do price cuts every so often," Intel spokesperson George Alfs says. "But we don't confirm those price cuts publicly until they happen, although we understand how info can be leaked through [system vendors] and whatnot."
The Intel price reductions have been fueled by advances from both Intel and closest competitor Advanced Micro Devices towards a 1-GHz processor.
Intel plans to demonstrate a 1-GHz IA-32 processor sometime in early 2000, although sources say the highest clock speed on the Coppermine track will likely be an 866-MHz PIII by the end of the first quarter 2000.
AMD plans to have a 1-GHz processor in the market by "the second half of 2000," company officials say.
Before the release of the 0.18 micron PIIIs, AMD priced its chips approximately 25 percent below that of comparable Intel chips. Now that the two companies are running neck and neck for processor speeds, AMD is following Intel pricing more closely. |
