Intel pencils Pentium M price cuts for October

Intel will cut its Pentium M processor prices by up to 33 per cent on 5 October, sources within Taiwan's notebook manufacturer community have claimed.

The sources, cited by DigiTimes, also claim Intel will discontinue the 1.3GHz Pentium M on that date.

Other mobile processor prices will be cut later in the month, on the 26th, with Mobile Pentium 4 chip prices falling by between 14 per cent and 35 per cent.

On the same day, Intel is also expected to cut the prices of its desktop Pentium 4 line, in preparation for the launch of the family's successor, codenamed 'Prescott', in November. It's likely that the Pentium M price cuts are similarly paving the way for the next generation of the chip, the 90nm 'Dothan' CPU, which is now due to ship right at the end of the year.

On 26 October, the 3.2GHz P4 will fall to $417, a reduction of 34.5 per cent. Other 800MHz FSB P4 prices will fall too, with the price of the 3GHz chip being reduced from $417 to $278 (a fall of 33.4 per cent), the 2.8GHz version falling from $278 to $218 (down 21.6 per cent) and the 2.6GHz part coming down to $178 from $218 (down 18.3 per cent). The 2.4GHz chip will stay where it is, at $178.

The 533MHz FSB 3.06GHz P4 will fall from $401 to $262, a dip of 34.7 per cent. The 2.8GHz version will fall to $193 from $262 (down 26.3 per cent) and the 2.66GHz release will be priced at $163, down 15.5 per cent from $193. The 2.53GHz P4 will also fall from $193 to $163.

On 5 October, the price of the 1.7GHz Pentium M will fall from $637 to $423, a cut of 33.6 per cent. The 1.6GHz part's price will be reduced to $294 from $423, down 30.5 per cent. The 1.5GHz version will fall 18 per cent to $241, from $294, and the 1.4GHz Pentium M will be priced at $209 - the current price of the 1.3GHz chip - a fall of 13.3 per cent from its current price, $241. ®