Intel drives Pentium, P2 prices down again

Electronic News, Nov 3, 1997

Santa Clara, Calif.--Intel last week released its quarterly microprocessor pricing schedule under which the prices of Pentium processors with MMX multimedia instruction set technology targeting mobile computers dropped by as much as 40 percent on the 133MHz Pentium with MMX. It was the steepest drop of any Intel product segment during the quarter.

Although some industry reports said the price reductions were steeper than usual, the price reductions are said to be in line with previous price cuts the company has made, with several CPUs remaining unchanged in price, most falling between 10 and 30 percent, and a few dropping more than that.

High-end Pentium II's dropped significantly, up to 24 percent on the 233MHz model. The new prices, according to Intel, reflect, "continued strong acceptance of Pentium II processors and MMX technology," that enables the company to "aggressively ramp these products into higher volume price points. The new price schedule was effective Oct. 26.

Intel's top-end 300MHz Pentium II has not seen much price erosion yet as it continues to ramp. The 300MHz P-II fell 13 percent from $851 in August to $738 now. Below that, the 266MHz P-II dropped 21 percent from $669 in August to $530 today. And the 233MHz P-II slipped 24 percent from $530 to $401.

In the Pentium Pro desktop MPU category, the 200MHz version held steady at $487, as did the 180MHz chip at $407.

Under that, in the Pentiums for desktops segment, Intel's 233MHz with MMX was off 22 percent from $386 to $300, while the 200MHz Pentium with MMX declined 15 percent from $252 to $213, and the 166MHz Pentium with MMX for desktops was reduced 23 percent from $145 to $112.

In the Pentium Pro processors for servers and workstations category, the 200MHz MPU is unchanged from August at $2,675,; and likewise, the 200MHz device also held steady at $1,035; as did the 166MHz version at $412.

The Pentium processor with MMX technology for mobile systems category took the greatest hit. The price of the top-end 233MHz Pentium with MMX technology was cut 12 percent from $691 in August to $605 today. Below that, the 200MHz Pentium with MMX fell 20 percent from $530 to $423, the 166MHz with MMX slid 22 percent from $348 to $273, the 150MHz with MMX dropped a significant 34 percent from $241 to $160, and the 133MHz with MMX was off 40 percent, going from $177 last August to $106 today. The new low-end 120MHz with MMX for mobile systems debuted at $106 per unit.

In standard Pentiums without MMX for mobile systems, the 150MHz Pentium was reduced 15 percent from $125 to $106, and the price of the entry-level 133MHz device was sliced 11 percent from $95 to $85.

Competitors Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Cyrix have in the past usually followed suit quickly, and reduced their prices. AMD is committed to maintaining a price point about 25 percent lower than Intel's comparable processor prices.