Second Celeron price cut in a fortnight
Published: 28 Apr 2003 14:47 BST
Intel reduced the price of several of its Celeron processors for desktop PCs over the weekend, marking its second round of price cuts in two weeks. The chipmaker lowered prices for the chips, designed for low-price desktops, by as much as 24 percent late on Sunday.
Intel typically reduces its chip prices on a predetermined schedule. Most often, it cuts prices to make room for new chips that it plans to introduce soon or to entice PC makers to move up the line to its faster processors.
This time, the largest price cuts came on Intel's newest 2.4GHz and 2.3GHz Celeron processors. All of the company's Celerons, except for the 2.4GHz version, now sell for less than $100 (£63) each.
Intel reduced the price of the 2.4GHz Celeron by 19 percent, from $127 to $103. The 2.3GHz chip saw the largest price decrease, falling by 24 percent from $117 to $89.
The company also sliced the price of the 2.2GHz Celeron by 19 percent, from $103 to $89. Its 2.1GHz sibling slid by 11 percent, from $89 to $79.
The Celeron price cuts come at a busy time for Intel's desktop PC product line. They also follow a broader set of price reductions enacted last week. At that time, Intel lowered the prices of its 3.06GHz Pentium 4 processor for desktops as well as of several mobile Pentium 4 and Celeron chips.
In the near future, Intel is expected to introduce several new desktop Pentium 4 chips, including what will become the flagship 3.2GHz processor, and a new chipset, or group of supporting chips for desktop PCs, dubbed Springdale. These introductions will likely spark additional price cuts.
When the dust clears, Intel will have shifted its existing desktop Pentium 4 chips downward to a position in its pricing structure, making room for the newer chips.
Following the Pentium 4 product introductions and related price cuts, Intel is expected to hold its desktop product line steady for a time while it works on its Prescott chip, a replacement for the current Pentium 4 that is due later in the year.
To find out more about the computers and hardware that these chips are being used in, see ZDNet UK's Hardware News Section.
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