Dual Core Processors, the Secret for Intel's Success

You win some, you lose some, you win some again, it's just a cat and mouse game, and the participants are our two favorite CPU manufacturers, Intel and AMD. According to a study made by iSuppli, the third quarter of 2006 was the most profitable quarter for AMD that year, gaining a remarkable 16.7% of the worldwide CPU market share, leaving Intel with 73.9%. That must have made them mad somehow, because the first quarter of 2007 was, in lack of a better word, disastrous for AMD, plummeting to 11.1%, while Intel got 80.2%.

This increase in Intel's earnings is attributed to their dual-core processor sales, which took 60% of Intel's sales. Intel however, is going to cash in some more, not just due to AMD's misfortune, but also because of their new price policy; they are lowering the prices so that they would take AMD further down into the ground. After the announced prices for the desktop segment, the server segment gets refreshed, registering drops from 9 to 40%, as opposed to current pricing. Therefore, if you are interested in an Intel Xeon 3040 processor, you could get it for $167, the Intel Xeon 3050 for $188, the Intel Xeon 3060 for $224, the Intel Xeon 3070 for $316, the Intel Xeon X3210 for $423 and the Intel Xeon X3220 for $530.

Intel has also reduced the pricing for its Netburst-based processors; the Intel Pentium D 820, Pentium D 915 and Pentium D 925 are all available now for $74, while the Intel Pentium D 935 is now available for $84. Even though the prices are expressed for purchases of 1.000 unit quantities, it's still very low, and could be considered some very cheap upgrade alternatives for older systems, or, if you're not caught by the Core architecture's mirage, it could represent a highly efficient base for a new system.