July 24, 2006

Processor war intensifies as AMD slashes prices

AMD cuts prices on some PC processors by as much as 57 percent

Advanced Micro Devices slashed prices on some PC processors by as much as 57 percent in a new listing Monday, firing the latest salvo in a battle with rival Intel Corp.

The new price list is a sign the company is defending its hard-won market share against Intel. The world's largest chip maker cut its microprocessor prices last month, and is widely expected to reduce them again soon. AMD has been grabbing market share from Intel for the past several months, fighting percent by percent in various product segments. But Intel has staged a comeback recently by boosting the technology in its processors and announcing several new products.

Price competition has been the latest weapon of choice for the companies, which is great for users since the processor is the most expensive component inside a PC. It's not good for the companies, however. Both Intel and AMD missed earnings estimates when they announced second quarter results last week, with Intel blaming lower average selling prices for part of its shortfall.

Users can look forward to bargains in the PC space in coming months as the two companies battle it out. AMD dropped the price of its dual-core Athlon 64 X2 5000+ (socket AM2 only) to $301 on Monday, from $696 when it last published a price list in May. It also cut the price of the Athlon 64 X2 4600+ (socket AM2 and 939) by 57 percent to $240 from $558.

Although the biggest AMD price reductions were in PC processors, the company also cut prices for laptop processor prices as well.

Prices of its AMD Turion 64 mobile chips fell by as much as 26 percent, with its Model ML-44 down to $263 from $354 in May. Prices for AMD Sempron chips for desktops and laptops also fell.

There was no change in AMD's Opteron prices. The company said its sales of Opteron chips rose 141 percent in the second quarter compared to the same time last year, putting it well on its way to meet its goal of holding a 30 percent share of the server market by the end of this year.

As of the end of the first quarter of this year, AMD supplied 22.9 percent of chips to the server market, compared to a 76.8 percent share for Intel, according to market researcher IDC.

 

Close

On Twitter now

Hardware

Powered by Twitter

On Twitter now

additional resources
White Paper - How to Improve Delivery of Advanced Web Applications

White Paper

Virtual Workforce: The Key to Expanding The Business While Cutting Costs

Get the independent advice and expertise you need to support a virtual workforce.

Go inside:
The three-step approach to making a virtual workforce a reality.
The four flavors of client virtualization technologies.
The three key initiatives that solve IT challenges.
Download now »
White Paper: Successfully Secure Your Wireless LAN With Wi-Fi firewalls.

White Paper

Addressing Linux Threats Leveraging Fewer Resources

The increase in Linux popularity has increased the frequency and sophistication of malware attacks. Read this 2 page white paper now to learn how you can protect your Linux environment with real-time protection that is certified by all major Linux vendors.

Download now »
White Paper - The 2009 Handbook of Application Delivery

White Paper

The 2009 Handbook of Application Delivery

Ensuring acceptable application delivery will become even more difficult over the next few years. As a result, IT organizations need to ensure that the approach that they take to resolving the current application delivery challenges can scale to support the emerging challenges. This handbook elaborates on the key tasks associated with planning, optimization, management and control and provides decision criteria to help IT organizations choose appropriate solutions.

Download now »
White Paper - Is Your Backup System Outdated?

White Paper

Mid-range Storage Considerations

A common misconception is that mid-range storage requirements are dramatically different than that of a larger enterprise. Mid-range storage users may require less capacity, but they have similar functionality and management requirements. This ESG paper examines mid-range storage needs and reviews a new solution that adjusts size while retaining value, performance and functionality.

Download now »

Sign up to receive Hardware Resource Alerts

Subscribe to the Today's Headlines: First Look Newsletter

Find out what will be news for the day, with our first-thing-in-the-morning briefing.

©1994-2010 Infoworld, Inc.