AMD Price Cuts

[erub]

As posted on the Hot Deal forum, the Athlon 1 GHz has dropped under $200 and a 1.2 GHz can be had for under $300. How is AMD going to make any $ at these prices? Are they that much in fear of the P4 with its higher clock speeds (even though all of us enthusiasts know that clock speeds dont mean anything, retail customers believe they are everything) will kill them? I hope they have a trump card to play, and soon...Where's SMP when you need it? Two Athlon 1 GHz can be had for $40 less than 1 PIII 1 GHz! Just my .02

 

[nuttervm]

i agree with what you said, but keep in mind there are a whole lot more consumers out there that dont know jack and will simply go with the higher mhz rating. that is what they worry about.

 

[Dexion]

Problem with these price cuts, it might make "normal" consumers think that these chips are less reliable and viewed as "cheap" for high-end CPUs(as much as they really are). Much as I like the price cuts, it may be bad for sales for AMD. I'm not sure how AMD makes money with such prices!

 

[Instigator]

Here's my guess. After reading this article on amdzone.com, I think they are getting ready for the release of the Palomino . You should also start seeing AMD Thunderbirds that are designed to run on the 266mhz FSB. These new AMD 266mhz Thunderbirds will cost more than the standard Thunderbirds. I think about 10%-15% more. I have been waiting about a year for this. The next couple of months will be great for upgrading. Just think about running a Palomino 1.4ghz overclocked to 1.6ghz on a 266 DDR motherboard with an ATA100 raid controller. Damn, can you say smokin!

 

[nuttervm]

i wonder how they will make the destinction between the two diff cores if they will both be called tbird. maybe adding a B like intel or whatever

 

[Muerto]

I think one reason behind these massive price cuts is that AMD is trying to take market share away from Intel. By undercutting Intel's prices by a huge margin they can attract more customers.

However like you guys have said, many people might think that AMD's chips are crap becuase they're so cheap. And due to the fact that the P4 is hitting such high clockspeeds AMD has to make their chips way less expensive.

But once Palamino hits the streets, and if those rumours about a 1.5GHz Palamino running without a fan were true, AMD should be able to kick some serious @$$!!!

 

[Deeko]

That would be cool if this was a sign that nice highly clocked Palominos were here soon

 

[Finality]

I do believe AMD is suicidal. They could easily have milked more money from the sale of there processors while selling 100% of there cpu stock.

 

[Shu8]

thank god [erub too] for this post...if i didn't see it then i would've killed myself if i didn't find out i could've purchased a 1.2ghz for the price i just paid on my 1ghz [$290]. i just bought the 1.2ghz and gonna return my 1ghz tomorrow.

 

[erub]

1.2 GHz for $290 eh? I accept commisions - seriously though - like Finality says, it appears that they are just pissing away money for no reason.

 

[roc919]

1.2Ghz for less than $300? Hey, I'm not complaining. If AMD wants to trim its profits, then I dont have a problem with that. But then again, I own about 500 shares of AMD...DAMN IT!

 

[Mule]

<< I do believe AMD is suicidal. They could easily have milked more money from the sale of there processors while selling 100% of there cpu stock. >>



As always in a business, you want to promote your product and your credibility. I see alot of anandtechers buying Duron/Athlon CPU's. And with great products at great prices, they are merely building a customer base and gobbling the market share that intel has dominated for the last decade. The cheaper their prices, the more buyers and when they are satisfied they will buy AMD processors in the future as well.

 

[Mark R]

Some 'information' here that might explain why these price cuts are so harsh.

 

[bernse]

Give AMD the benifit of the doubt here. They are not run by a bunch of morons. I agree, they could be making more if they wanted but give them the benifit that they know what they are doing.

 

[Finality]

<< As always in a business, you want to promote your product and your credibility. >>

True but they already stated before this round of price cuts that there fabs would not keep up with Christmas rush.

So what exactly does more price cuts accomplish? No more people extra people are going to buy an Athlon system so whats the use? To loose more money?

I am not complaining about the price cuts as a consumer but as a business major I really do wonder what AMD is planning on doing. Do they want another price war with Intel?

 

[SSP]

I think they are getting ready for Palomino.