Again reported on Digitimes,
a counterattack to the Duron low-end processor from Advanced Micro Devices
(AMD), Intel upgraded its Celeron processor with a 512K L2 cache and increased
processing speed with the Coppermine-T core, originally used in the Tualatin.
By year-end, the Celeron will represent 40% of Intel's processor shipments,
Taiwanese motherboard makers said.
In the second quarter of 2002,
all Celerons will be made using 0.13-micron processing technology, which
should lower production costs and even the field in the processor price
war.
Intel will once again lower
the price of the Celeron in August, according to the company. The 850MHz
Celeron will be reduced to US$64, which brings the price difference with
the Duron to 5%. The 0.13-micron Celeron, with the Coppermine-T core and
clock speed of 1.2GHz, will be priced at US$103.
Taiwanese motherboard manufacturers
pointed out that with the upgrade and the price reduction, the new Celeron
is very similar to the Tualatin. This move should greatly affect AMD's Duron,
they further said.
Since Intel's processor line
will include the Pentium 4 and the Celeron, motherboard manufacturers are
restructuring their product lines as well. The 0.13-micron Celeron will
target the US$799 and under PC market. Motherboard manufacturers will modify
their Tualatin lines to suit the Celeron.
The price difference between
the new and existing Celeron motherboards will be less than 10%, according
to the motherboard makers.
AMD has yet to adjust prices
to fight back against Intel's series of moves. VIA Technologies, on the
other hand, is working the China market with its Socket 370 platform C3
processor. Through package deals, the C3 is more than 10% cheaper than the
Celeron. Intel is currently attacking the China market as well, and its
recent efforts should allow the company to separate its Celeron from the
C3, the motherboard makers suggested.
