Faster versions of existing chip families from Intel and Advanced
Micro Devices will be released over the next two weeks, setting the
stage for next-generation releases by the end of this year and into
the next.
Intel's 2.8GHz Pentium 4 chip is already for sale on industry price
guide Pricewatch.com for $578 (£378), with a release date slated
for 26 August. Three other Pentium 4 chips at 2.66GHz, 2.6GHz, and
2.5GHz are already available on UpgradeSource.com.
The release of the 2.8GHz Pentium 4 had been scheduled for October,
but was moved to 25 August, according to a research note
distributed by a Salomon Smith Barney Holdings analyst last month.
At the time, Intel declined to confirm that date, but said the chip
would be announced in the third quarter. Salomon Smith Barney
Holdings' note also said Intel would cut the prices of existing
processors, including its top-of-the-line 2.53GHz Pentium 4.
The prices of AMD's Athlon XP processors have fallen sharply over
the past week on various price guide Web sites, usually an
indication that a chipmaker is preparing to release new products.
AMD also cut prices for its processors across the board in late
July.
"Intel has been pretty vocal about pulling in the schedule for its
faster Pentium 4s," said Nathan Brookwood, principal analyst with
Insight 64 in California.
"The bigger they can make the gap between the installed base and
what is available, the more pressure will be placed on customers to
upgrade," he added. Many customers are still using the PCs they
bought in 1999 when they anticipated year 2000 software problems,
and are running 400MHz to 500MHz processors, he said.
AMD will release their Athlon XP 2400+ and 2600+ chips this week,
according to various reports. The latest Athlon chips run at slower
clock speeds than the newest Intel chips, but the performance gap
between the chips is not as wide as the clock speed gap.
The real competition is at the midrange level, where most buyers
are looking for the most performance they can afford. Most desktop
systems today are priced between $800 (£524) and $1,200 (£785),
with Intel's 2.2GHz and 2.0GHz Pentium 4 chips.
AMD's Athlon XP 2200+ and 2000+ can clearly match the performance
of those chips at a lower cost, according to Pricewatch.com.
Intel maintains a healthy lead in the race for processor market
share, according to research for the second quarter of 2002 from
IDC. Intel's 82.8% share in terms of shipments dwarfs AMD's
15.6%.
Chips based on AMD's Hammer technology are expected at the end of
this year, and the company promises its 64-bit desktop processors
will allow it to take market share from Intel.
Intel's Prescott, a Pentium 4 chip manufactured on the company's
new 90-nanometer technology, will be out in the second half of next
year, and could overtake the Hammer technology.