Intel Slashes Desktop Chip Pricing

The Santa Clara, Calif.-based chip giant reduced the 3.4GHz top-line desktop Pentium D 950 from $637 to $316, based on 1,000-unit quantities, according to prices Intel published on the Web.

Intel also cut pricing on the Pentium D 940, from $423 to $241; the Pentium D 930, from $316 to $209; the Pentium D 920, from $241 to $209; and the Pentium D 820, from $241 to $209.

Price reductions also were made in the lower-cost Celeron D lineup. Intel dropped the Celeron D 355 from $117 to $79 and the Celeron D 350 from $117 to $69, based on 1,000-unit quantities.

The price changes, which Intel said went into effect Sunday, come as the market awaits an announcement of a new Intel desktop platform on Monday. Intel executives, including CEO Paul Otellini and CFO Andy Bryant, also are slated to meet with Wall Street analysts later this week in New York.

Intel last week reported declined earnings for its fiscal 2006 first quarter. The company also is warning analysts that it expects PC growth for 2006 to be 7 percent to 9 percent, down from a previously expected 10 percent to 12 percent. Brutal competition with rival Advanced Micro Devices plus slower-than-anticipated sales have disappointed Intel and its investors.