Intel Adjusts Pricing Across Pentium 4 Chip Lineup

The Santa Clara, Calif.-based chipmaker, as expected, reduced its Pentium 4 660 processor by more than 33 percent to $401 from $605 in 1,000-unit quantities, according to prices published on the Intel Web site.

David Chang, president of Agama Systems, a Houston-based system builder, said the move may reflect efforts by Intel to shore up sales in the middle of its processor line after introducing higher-end CPUs over the past few months. “They&re trying to stabilize the sweet spot,” Chang said.

An Intel spokesman declined to comment beyond noting that the company makes pricing adjustments from time to time. Some system builders have said deep price cuts in the Pentium 4 600 series could help them set more attractive pricing ahead of the busy fourth-quarter selling season.

Two weeks earlier, Intel cut some prices for its Centrino mobile lineup and its lower-cost Celeron line. However, for much of the past two years the company&s pricing has remained largely stable.

Aside from the reductions on the Pentium 4 660 line, Intel cut pricing on the Pentium 4 670 to $605 from $851; the Pentium 4 650 was slashed to $273 from $401; the Pentium 4 640 was cut to $218 from $273; and the Pentium 4 630 was cut to $178 from $224. All prices are based on 1,000-unit quantities.

The price cuts follow Intel price reductions earlier this month in its Centrino line, as well as cuts by rival Advanced Micro Devices, Sunnyvale, Calif., throughout its product line. At that time, Intel partners anticipated that the company was on track to undertake the Pentium 4 reductions.