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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Joe NYC who wrote (113404)	5/30/2000 3:54:00 PM
From: Cirruslvr	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 1572472

Intel cuts prices for wide range of chips Intel is cutting prices but AMD isn't. AMD says their prices are still competitive. This may be a first! ____________________________________________________________ Intel cuts prices for wide range of chips By Ian Fried Staff Writer, CNET News.com May 30, 2000, 12:40 p.m. PT Intel has slashed list prices for its desktop and mobile processors, although many of the discounted chips remain in short supply. The cuts dropped desktop Pentium III chips by up to 31 percent, laptop Pentium III processors by up to 34 percent and mobile Celeron processors by up to 44 percent. Intel cut the prices of two Xeon processors, used in servers and workstations, by up to 29 percent. The pricing moves precede what is expected to be a cavalcade of new chip introductions from both Intel and Advanced Micro Devices in June. Over the next few weeks, AMD will introduce its low-end Duron chip and its high-end "Thunderbird" processor for performance PCs. Meanwhile, Intel will come out with more Celerons and introduce its 815 chipset, companion chips that connect the processor to the rest of the PC. The 815 is expected to be quite popular as it allows PC makers to take advantage of faster graphics technology and other speed improvements without having to adopt expensive Rambus memory. An Intel spokesman reiterated that the company expects supply to be tight throughout the second quarter, but said the company hopes to catch up later this year as it completes the transition to its new 0.18-micron manufacturing process. The weekend price cuts were part of Intel's regular adjustments to its published menu of chips and are not necessarily reflective of the prices paid by Intel's larger customers. Gateway said last week that it is increasing orders from Intel rival Advanced Micro Devices amid continued shortages of Intel parts. "Certainly the hardest chips to get are the above-800-MHz parts, but the Pentium III in general seems to be in short supply," said Linley Gwennap, principal analyst at the Linley Group. "I think we're going to see shortages for the next couple of quarters." Nonetheless, Gwennap said Intel must cut its prices some to meet its long-term commitments to customers. AMD spokesman Drew Prairie said his company is not making changes to its pricing. "It was an expected price move, and our pricing is still competitive," he said. As for the specifics on the Intel moves, the chipmaker cut its desktop Pentium III line by 20 percent to 31 percent, with no drop for the still-scarce 1-gigahertz chip and the recently introduced 933-MHz processor. The cuts include a 24 percent drop on the 866-MHz chip, a 25 percent cut on the 850-MHz processor and a 31 percent fall for the 800-MHz offering, though all three are said to be extremely hard to come by. Intel made more modest cuts on its low-end Celeron line, with prices down by 5 to 19 percent. On the mobile side, Intel cut its three fastest Pentium III chips by 31 percent to 34 percent, leaving unchanged the prices for laptop chips at 500 MHz and below. Intel's steepest cut came in its Celeron line for notebook computers, which saw cuts of up to 44 percent on the 550-MHz variety, which drops to $96. The 500-MHz and 450-MHz varieties dropped by 33 percent and 18 percent respectively. Intel dropped the price of its 866-MHz Xeon processor by 23 percent, to $612, and its 800-MHz Xeon was cut by 29 percent, to $435. Intel recently introduced a 933-MHz version at $794, and that price remains unchanged. Intel's rate of price cuts appears to have slowed some from the furious pace of last year, but Gwennap said that may be the short-term effect of high demand. "Right now, the whole market is undersupplied," he said. Gwennap noted that while prices may not be falling as quickly, Intel has moved aggressively to reduce the costs of making its chips, a combination that could spell higher profits. "It's not necessarily good for customers, but it's good for Intel's bottom line," he said. The price cuts serve as a prelude to upcoming Celeron processors and the 815 chipset. siliconinvestor.com ____________________________________________________________