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Intel to fend off AMD low-power challenge with May 28 price cuts of Core Duo

Monica Chen, Taipei; Carrie Yu, DigiTimes.com [Thursday 18 May 2006]

Intel will lower prices of three Core Duo dual-core processor models by up to a third on May 28, according to sources. Prices for the T2400, T2500 and T2600 processors will be lowered from US$294, US$423 and US$637 per thousand units to US$241, US$294 and US$423, respectively, with the T2300 currently priced at US$241 per thousand units to be replaced by the T2300E at US$209, the sources said. Intel Taiwan declined to comment on unannounced information.

Taiwan-based notebook makers suggested that the plan was caused by weaker-than-expected demand and new competing products, such as the low-power AM2 and Turion 64 X2 processors from AMD. In addition, the price cut will help make room for the upcoming Merom (Core 2 Duo) processor (to be launched in August), the makers said.

After the reduction, the prices for Intel’s Core Duo processors will be much closer to those for AMD's Turion 64 X2 processors, which are now priced at US$184-354 (announced on May 17). Although Intel's Core processors are not 64-bit (a feature that many would claim is unnecessary until Microsoft's Vista arrives), this reduced price gap combined with the company's current dominance in the notebook market and its stronger branding will revitalize its competitive edge, the sources said.