Intel yesterday cut the prices of its 1.8GHz to 2.4GHz Celeron desktop chips, as predicted. That lends credence to forecasts that the chip giant will slash 533MHz frontside bus Pentium 4 prices on 11 May.
The Celeron prices fell by up to 23.9 per cent. The 2.4GHz chip fell from $127 to $103, a reduction of 18.9 per cent. The 2.3GHz fell from $117 to $89 (23.9 per cent), the 2.2GHz chip from $103 to $83 (19.4 per cent), the 2.1GHz part from $89 to $79 (11.2 per cent), the 2GHz Celeron from $83 to $69 (16.9 per cent) and the 1.8GHz chip from $69 to $64 (7.2 per cent). The 1.7GHz part will remain at $54.
The 11 May cuts are expected to see the 2.8GHz P4 fall in price from $375 to $262, a fall of 30 per cent. The 2.6GHz part falls from $241 to $193 (19.9 per cent) and the 2.4GHz part from $193 to $163 (15.5 per cent). The 3.06GHz P4 will stay at $401.
This will knock the chips' prices down to below the introductory prices of the 800MHz FSB parts, believed to be scheduled for a 21 May launch. The 2.8GHz P4C will come in at $278, the 2.6GHz P4 at $218 and the 2.4GHz P4C at $178. The 'C' indicates 800MHz bus support when there's already a 533MHz FSB chip at that clock speed. ®
Related Story
Intel readies 30 per cent Pentium 4 price cut - report