This article is more than 1 year old

Intel thrown into confusion by AMD cuts

Emergency? What emergency

Chip giant Intel is confused about how it will react to price cuts AMD is making this weekend, we can reveal.

On the 7th of August last, the firm sent its authorised dealer and distribution channel the usual notification of a price change, which read:

"This is a notice to inform you of an upcoming price move on Intel's boxed processors. On August 27, 2000, Intel will be reducing prices on select boxed Pentium III processors, select boxed Celeron processors, select boxed Pentium III Xeon processors, and select boxed mobile Pentium III and Celeron processors sold through authorized distributors. With this price move, Intel is delivering higher performance and better value across multiple market segments.

"We will have more information available the week of the price move. Please contact your authorized Intel distributor, after August 27, for specific pricing and availability details."

But, as revealed here last week, AMD decided to cut its prices earlier than expected -- with price changes happening two weeks earlier than Intel had anticipated.

That led yesterday to a further notice to its dealers and distributors, suggesting it would cut its prices tomorrow.

The latest emissive reads:

"Get Advance Notice on Processor Price Reduction
We provide program members with advance notice of upcoming price moves on Intel's boxed processors. On August 13, 2000, Intel will be reducing prices
on select boxed Pentium III processors, select boxed Celeron processors, select boxed Pentium III Xeon processors, and select boxed mobile Pentium III and Celeron processors sold through authorized distributors. Read more details and bookmark our pricing news page for future notices."

Meanwhile, system integrators and dealers have had notification of the availability of Intel's flip chip version of the 1GHz Pentium III. Distributors, such as Tech Data, are listing the part at $1,000. As one dealer told The Reg: "Ouch".

Later today we will write a story demonstrating the big rip off end users who want to buy AMD Athlons are facing, given the price cuts the firm is making on Monday, together with a clear description of how middlemen and middlewomen in the industry work. ®

See Also

AMD takes axe to Athlon, Duron prices

More about

TIP US OFF

Send us news


Other stories you might like