BANGALORE, August 23: Chip major, Intel Coporation is planning to cut prices on its
Pentium III chips by as much as 41 per cent, according to reports on the Internet.
The huge cuts are aimed at increasing the demand for the Pentium III, since Intel plans
to stop producing Pentium II by September. Reports said that the move would also provide
the competition to rival Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)’s Athlon chips.
As per the new price list, the 600-MHz Pentium III, which was released at the beginning
of the month, will stay at $669, according to reports. The 550-MHz Pentium III will drop
26 per cent to $487 from $658. The 500-MHz version will sink 41 per cent, to $251 from
$423.
Lower down the speed scale, Intel is dropping the price of the 450-MHz Pentium III and
450-MHz Pentium II to $183 from $230, a 20 percent discount. By comparison, the 650-MHz
version of the Athlon, the fastest PC chip on the market, is priced at $849 and the
600-MHz version is $615. The 550-MHz Athlon sells for $449 and the 500-MHz chip is $249.