14 DAY TRIAL // The stream of rumors has not exactly been overflowing lately, but it definitely hasn't dried up either. In fact, not too long ago, Digitimes published a report that stated something about a certain CPU line that Intel has. Normally, companies don't comment on unofficial rumors, but it appears this one was serious enough for the Santa Clara, California-based chip giant to step up and deny it. The subject of said rumor was the possibility of one of Intel's CPU lines being phased out.
To be more specific, Digitimes claimed that, according to unnamed Taiwanese notebook companies, Intel was going to stop making mobile Celeron CPU starting next year. Currently, there are several such chips on sale, such as the P4500, T3100, T3900 and SU2300, among others. All of these were supposedly going to be phased out in 2011, leaving it to dual-core Atom Series parts to address their marketing segment.
Intel claims this will not happen. In answer to some questions posed by Computerworld, the company clearly states that it will continue to manufacture such processors because they are still suited for basic, entry-level computing tasks.
Current desktop parts have clocks of 2.4GHz to 2.6GHz (priced between US$43 and $53 in 1,000-unit quantities), while mobile versions hover between 1.06GHz and 2.2GHz ($70 and $100).
"The rumor is not true, Intel has no plan to phase out the Celeron brand in 2011. Intel Celeron processors continue to provide a low-cost computing solution for basic computing needs," wrote Barry Sum, an Intel spokesman in Hong Kong, in an e-mail response to Computerworld.
That said, consumers from the entry-level desktop and laptop segments need not despair, for the steady flow of inexpensive desktops and notebooks will continue as before, at least in some measure. There is no info on any possible future chips as of yet.