Updated: AMD slashes prices as Intel introduces faster Celerons

Tweedledweeb and Tweedledumb at it again

Intel officially introduced its 366MHz and 400MHz Celerons yesterday but AMD has taken retaliatory action over the holiday period and has slashed the price of its K6-2/400 by $60. Over the last two weeks, AMD has briefed its distributors and dealers about the price drop, which is intended to take the wind out of Intel's sales. The public clash between Intel and AMD hides a bitter battle behind the scenes. As exclusively reported here at the beginning of December, Intel dropped the prices of its 300MHz and 333MHz Celerons in a bid to shift inventory and prepare the market for the January price war. Cyrix and some distributors made the claim that Intel was dumping its stock of Slot One Celerons as it prepared to push Socket 370 processors into the marketplace. The pricing of the AMD K6-2/400 now pits it against Intel's new introductions today. The Celeron 366MHz costs $123 while the 400MHz part will cost $158. The AMD K6-2/400 now costs around $175 while the K6-2/350 is around $100. The lower speed Celerons, the 300A and the 333MHz parts, drop in price to $71 and $90 respectively. Intel also cut prices on its 350MHz and 400MHz parts by five and six per cent respectively to $202 and $353. AMD's argument will be that the K6-2/400 is a far more powerful processor than any of the Celeron parts but we at The Register confidently expect a phone call from spin doctors at Intel tomorrow to rebut that. Just before the Yule period, AMD claimed it would, at some point, resist Intel price pressure during this year. Later this quarter it will release a K6-2/450 part and in February will achieve volume of its K6-3 (Sharptooth) part. All prices are approximate but usually refer to chips sold in quantities of 1,000. Both Intel and AMD salesfolk have been known to vary these prices...depending on the order. ®