Intel May Drop Prices for Core i5 ULV to Push Ultrabooks
Intel may be bowing to the pressure of system vendors and reducing the price of some low-power processors to enable lower ultrabook prices.
Williams Financial Group analyst Cody Acree told clients that the process manufacturer could be dropping the tray prices of Core i3 CPUs by about $25 to $27. At this time, Intel currently offers three ULV i5 chips that sell for prices between $225 (i5-3427U) and $250 (i5-2557M and i5-2537M), which means that the analyst is anticipating a price drop of about 10 percent.
His reasoning stems from an increasing threat from AMD-based "Sleekbooks", which are hitting the price target of $700 and below much faster than Intel's Ultrabooks. Ultrabook makers have been complaining about the high cost of Intel processors preventing them from bringing down their bill of materials (BOM) and delivering on the $700 retail price goal. To achieve that goal, the BOM has to land somewhere between $500 and $550.
Acree's colleague Stacy Rasgon of Bernstein Research dismissed concerns that there is an "execution risk" on AMD's side and noted that AMD is becoming financially much more reliable, which indicates that we could once again be seeing a much more competitive AMD. Acree showed a considerable focus on Sleekbook pricing and the potential success. If he is right and AMD is able to piggyback on Intel's Ultrabook campaign with much cheaper same-class devices, Intel may, in fact, be forced bring its processor prices down and compromise on its comfortable margins today.
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oj88 10% discount is really nothing for Intel, who does this routinely every summer as the back to school sale. I would expect another 20% discount in Q2'13 when AMD's 28nm APUs coming out in volume.Reply -
boiler1990 It's about time though. I think Ultrabooks are having issues because A) a lot of people still have netbooks, B) Ultrabooks are expensive compared to most computers, and C) the MacBook Air attracts more people since you get a better user experience for the same price as a Windows-based Ultrabook. Intel really needs to push the price angle if they want to really sell well against the Air and AMD's offerings.Reply -
Blandge boiler1990C) the MacBook Air attracts more people since you get a better user experience for the same price as a Windows-based Ultrabook. Intel really needs to push the price angle if they want to really sell well against the Air and AMD's offerings.Reply
No really. Intel doesn't gain anything from undercutting the MacBook Air. I'd say it's more because of AMD. -
kcorp2003 i want a quad core ultrabook but everything is dual core. i need an ultrabook that can run oracle, VMware, selenium, Komodo Edit, NetBeans & few other tools running in the background.Reply -
TheBigTroll wait for hasewell or pick up a macbook pro 15 retina. the price is retarted but you do get a quad core and it is like 1cm thicker than a macbook air.Reply
wait for hasewell where intel reinvents the notebook -
ashinms "which indicates that we could once again be seeing a much more competitive AMD"Reply
Not if Intel has their way. -
iceman1992 boiler1990C) the MacBook Air attracts more people since you get a better user experience for the same price as a Windows-based Ultrabook.No you don't..Reply
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neoverdugo when will intel learn? How about a 60% price reduction? that will guarantee a better pricing for the UB. Also, give the customer the choice of having either an SSD o HDD. That way the UB won't be that much expensive as long as the SSDs remains pricier than typical HDDs. My only hope is that someone finds a way to make cheaper yet higher capacity volume SSD for the general public.Reply