Intel has cut the prices of its Celeron and Pentium 4 desktop
processors ahead of the launch of the 3.06GHz Pentium 4 processor
this week.
A research note from investment bank Merrill Lynch said the
approximate price of the new processor, Intel's first on the
desktop to feature its hyperthreading technology, will be in about
the mid-$500 (£315) range.
To bring slower processors in line with the new chip, the 2.8GHz
Pentium 4 will fall in price from $508 to $401 (£253), and the
2.67GHz and 2.60GHz Pentium 4 processors will fall from $401 to
$305 (£192), according to Intel's Web site. All prices are in
1,000-unit quantities.
Intel will also cut prices on its budget line of Celeron desktop
processors. The 2.0GHz Celeron will fall from $103 to $83 (£52),
the 1.8GHz from $83 to $69 (£39), the 1.7GHz from $69 to $54 (£34),
and the 1.4GHz from $74 to $54.
Prices for its families of mobile, server and workstation chips
were unchanged.
AMD is expected to cut the prices of its lower-end Athlon XP
processors sometime soon, specifically the Athlon XP 2100+, 1900+
and 1700+, Merrill predicted.