14 DAY TRIAL // The world's second chip manufacturer is still kept on a short leash in terms of pricing for their latest Phenom processors. The company will not be able to push their processor towards a $1000 retail price for another few months, but they hope that AMD Phenom models 9700 and 9900 would bring higher price-points than the models already on the market.
"AMD intends to offer the following new processors in Q1 of 2008: a processor model 9900 (2.60GHz) priced below $350 and a Phenom processor model 9700 (2.40GHz) priced below $300", a spokesperson for AMD said, referring to prices for large customers in 1000-unit quantities.
The Phenom 9000-series processors are built on the classic 46 nanometer process technology and promise to deliver 2.20GHz (model 9500) and 2.30GHz (model 9600) at a thermal design power of 95 watts, which is pretty high for these processors. These models sell for $251 and $283 respectively for packages of 1000 units only.
The Phenom 9600 model is not only the most powerful desktop processor from AMD, but it's also the most expensive one, rated at $283 per chip. The dual-core AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+ Black Edition processor can reach a 3.20GHz clock and is priced at $220 for wholesale purchase.
The dual-processor platform owners can purchase dual-core AMD Athlon 64 FX-74 (3.0GHz) chips for $600 a pair, but these processors are by far the less appealing products from AMD, as they tend to address a select and generous elite.
Last year was pretty tough for AMD in terms of sales and left the company in a difficult position, as they have managed to lose $1.6 billion in its fiscal year with debts that raise up to $5.3 billion, while the ATI business has cost them an inconceivable amount of profit that reflects over the whole corporation.
If AMD manages to introduce the AMD Phenom 9900 processor in Q1 2008, this would give the company the opportunity to recover from the actual financial shock. Of course, if Intel decides to lower the price for their Q6700 (Intel Core 2 Quad Q6700 that works at 2.66GHz), this would likely cause more pain for the guys at AMD.