Intel will follow these February price cuts with another wave of cuts when it introduces its 3.2GHz Pentium 4, which is expected in March. After this second round of cuts, Intel will have moved all of the desktop Pentium 4 chips down an entire rung on its pricing ladder. The second cut will lower the 3.06GHz chip to about $400, or to the same level where the 2.8GHz chip is now, sources said. The 2.8GHz chip, which lists for $401, will end up at a price below the 2.66GHz chip's $305 list price, the sources said. Finally, the 2.66GHz Pentium 4 will have moved from its price of $305 to about $193, sources said. Intel's new 3.2GHz chip -- which is expected to coincide with the release of a new higher-performance chipset code-named Springdale -- will move to the top of Intel's pricing ladder, selling for about what the 3.06GHz chip sells for now, or $637. Intel is also expected to bring out several slower chips that support the Springdale chipset's new 800MHz bus and that also include its hyperthreading technology. Intel is expected to charge a slight premium for those chips, possibly as low as $15, sources said. Intel's published pricing is for chips purchased in 1,000-unit lots. Prices for individual chips purchased from dealers can vary from Intel's list, affected by supply and demand. With the price cuts several weeks away, they are still subject to change but are unlikely to do so because Intel sets its prices and typically notifies customers well in advance of changes. Meanwhile, AMD is expected to bring out a new Athlon XP 3000+ model early next month. The chipmaker may also cut its prices with the introduction of that chip.
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