AMD Cuts Phenom II Prices
In response to Intel’s recent price cut on select quad-core and dual-core processors, AMD has slashed prices on its new AMD Phenom II processors, which have only been available for two weeks. Apparently the price drop isn’t solely as a result of Intel, however. It appears that the price reduction was also a reaction to the low demand of high tech products globally.
After the price cut, the Phenom II X4 920 chip’s price is $195 and the Phenom II X4 940 Black Edition processor runs $225. These prices are 15-17% below the initial prices set by the company just two weeks ago when it formally launched its first 45nm desktop products. While many e-tailers were the first to display the new prices, AMD’s official price list on its website has now been updated to reflect these new prices, as well. The price changes were not formally announced since AMD is currently in an SEC-mandated quiet period; the company announces its fourth-quarter results Thursday.
Like many companies in the tech industry, AMD is feeling the effects of the struggling economy. Enough so that it reduced its earnings projections for the fourth quarter due to weaker than expected demand across all businesses, especially the consumer market. While consumers will likely be happy about this recent price cut, it doesn’t come at a good time for the company.
The AMD Phenom II X4 processor offers significant performance improvements in comparison to previous generation chips. This performance improvement is a result of a larger 6MB level-three cache, improvements to the micro-architecture, and a clock-speed increase that comes through the 45nm process technology and future support for DDR3 memory.
