AMD Cuts Prices For Desktop Processors

Advanced Micro Devices on Monday cut prices by more than half in some cases for many of its desktop processors, including gaming, mainstream, and budget CPUs.

The latest price cuts were the second for AMD in three months. The company in April had similarly cut prices across its line of desktop processors. Gartner analyst George Shiffler noted AMD was most likely responding to pressure from Intel. "It's probably just a competitive response," he said.

Starting from the high end down, AMD slashed pricing for the Athlon 64 FX-74 and FX-72 dual-core processors for PC gaming. Pricing for both chips fell to $599 a pair, from previous price points of $999 and $799, respectively.

For mainstream Athlon 64 X2 dual-core processors, prices were cut by more than half in some cases. The 6000+ fell to $178 from $464, the 5600+ to $157 from $326, the 5200+ to $136 from $232, the 5000+ to $125 from $222, the 4800+ to $115 from $217, the 4400+ to $94 from $170, the 4200+ to $83 from $159, and the 4000+ to $73 from $144.

Reflecting the demand for energy-efficient CPUs, pricing for the Athlon X2 BE-2350 and BE-2300 was unchanged at $91 and $86, respectively.

Pricing for single-core Athlon 64 processors was also discounted. The price for AMD's 4000+ chip was reduced to $79 from $102, the 3800+ to $69 from $93, the 3500+ to $58 from $88, and the 3200+ to $48 from $78. AMD also reduced pricing for its Sempron processors. The Sempron 3800+ fell to $53 from $108, the 3600+ to $42 from $101, the 3400+ to $37 from $67, and the 3200+ to $31 from $51.

AMD stop selling a number of chips. They included the Athlon 64 FX-62 and FX-70, the Athlon 64 X2 5400+, 4600+, 3800+ and 3600+; and the Sempron 3500+, 3400+ and 3000+.

Experts have predicted that prices would tumble in key microchip markets, including processors, dynamic random access memory for computers, and flash memory in consumer electronics. The Semiconductor Industry Association said revenue from the industry this year would grow by only 1.8%, much less than the 10% increase in earlier projections. Prices for semiconductors used in PCs were expected to decline 1.6%, despite a projected increase in PC shipments.

Pricing for all of AMD's mobile processors were unchanged, a reflection of the double-digit sales increases of notebook computers. Desktop sales, on the other hand, are growing at a far slower rate. Global notebook shipments for the first three months of the year reached 21.8 million units, 23% higher than a year ago, according to industry analyst firm iSuppli. Overall PC shipments for the year are expected to increase 11.2% over last year to 264 million units. Notebooks are expected to account for 40% of that total.