It’s going to be a nice time for you all ready to buy a new computer (or a new CPU processor). It seems that Intel and AMD, out of ideas to compete directly, are preparing a nice little price war.
According to Bloomberg, Intel started it with an upcoming price cut that could reduce the cost of some components by 60% on July 23rd. It seems that this is a needed move to clear stock of ageing processors in preparation of the arrival of the newest technology: Conroe (Core 2 Duo - also known as dual core processor at a reasonable price). This would be a natural move to fight against the growing market share of AMD (in the recent months, AMD succeeded in jumping over the 20%-barrier, preparing to get one third of the world’s processor shipments).
But what could have been a major Intel stock clearance action seems to be prompting a slashing answer from AMD. This time, this is the Inquirer suggesting that AMD price cuts could go into the 50% area. And this should be happening on nearly all socket-939 and AM2 products.
Usually, the two processor giants take turns in cutting prices while new technology is moved out of the plants. Sometimes, a significant price slash is seen to improve local stocks or to clean up financial statements. But it seems that the thing is going to be a bit wider than usual and we could be facing several months of entrenched battle where both sides toss Press Releases at each other while trying to impress the public into buying more silicon. After our comments in a previous article on AMD, we think that this could lead to interesting rebates all over the place in the coming months. This Summer and Autumn may be very nice to the consumer in all of us.
If you are looking for a new computer, my advice is thus to wait a few days and to make sure that you buy only after the new price lists are applied into the distribution channels. Your CPU could be nearly half the original price. It’s worth it. The consumer is king of the CPU market now.