Intel performed a stealth price cut on a handful (if you're a character in The Simpsons) of chips on Monday, reducing three Pentium III parts by up to $50. The 667 and 650MHz PIIIs drop from $193 to $163, while the 600MHz chip drops a tad more, from $193 to $143. All prices are for 1Ku.

But German site PC Welt has a much longer list of price cuts, including the 1GHz PIII dropping some 30 per cent from $669 to $465 and the Celeron 700 moving by 36 per cent from $138 to $88.

An Intel spokesperson denied that any such cuts had been made, saying that the 1GHz PIII is still priced at $669. Asked where he thought PC Welt had obtained its prices, the spokesman replied: "You'd better ask them."

Of course, there will be price adjustments right across Chipzilla's range in about a month's time when the Pentium 4 finally arrives. And they'll be pretty much in the ballpark outlined by our German chums… ®

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Should Salomon Smith Barney analyst Jonathan Joseph be reading (Story: AMD price cuts revisited), I've done the sums right this time, Jon, so it's safe to lift the story.