Today's report from DigiTimes, comes to inform us that Intel is planning to cut the prices of its desktop processors in the third quarter of this year.

The performance-level Core 2 Quad Q9650 with a core frequency of 3GHz will launch priced at US$530 in thousand-unit tray quantities, while the Core 2 Quad Q9550 will drop around 40% from its original price of US$530 to US$316. The Core 2 Quad 9450, currently priced at US$316, will be phased out of the market to be replaced by the Core 2 Quad 9400 at 2.66GHz and a price of US$266. The Core 2 Quad Q9300 and Q6700 will both be phased out at the same time too, leaving the Q6600 as the only 65nm quad-core CPU left in Intel's lineup, and which will drop from US$224 to US$203. For dual-core CPUs, Intel will launch the Core 2 Duo E8600 at 3.33GHz and US$266, and will phase out the Core 2 Duo E8300. The company will also drop pricing for the Core 2 Duo E8500 and E8400 from US$266 and US$183 to US$183 and US$163, respectively. Intel will also add the Core 2 Duo E7300 at 2.66GHz and US$133 to its entry-level line and to drop the price of its Core 2 Duo E7200 from US$133 to US$113.

With the introduction of Intel's new 1333 MHz front-side bus processors lineup price cuts for existing processors were expected. That day has arrived and Intel price cuts for existing Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad processors are going into effect. The quad-core Core 2 Quad Q6600 price was cut in half to $266 per processor which is quite impressive while the Core 2 Quad Q6700 price was cut down to $530.

The price war between Intel and AMD gets more and more intense. While Intel's updated price list is known for some time now, it took spy agencies around the globe some time to uncover a similar document. After all the Germans from Au-Ja got their hands on the bespoken file. Here it is:

DigiTimes is reporting that after Chartered recently confirmed 65nm production for AMD processors is expected to begin soon, AMD ought to announce another massive price cuts for its 90nm CPU product line. According to a report from Merrill Lynch Chia Song Hwee, CEO of Chartered, stated that AMD has completed all of its milestones for its 65nm ramp and production should begin soon. AMD itself announced the transition to 65nm process technology in December of last year. Meanwhile, despite several recent price cuts, inventory for AMD's entry-level 90nm parts remains an issue for the company, according to a recent report from Thomas Weisel Partners. The report indicated that AMD will likely cut related prices 30-35% on average on April 9.

HKEPC has info about upcoming price cuts on Intel's CPUs:One can only wonder what would make Intel cut prices so much, especially on their high end models! This move will truly bring quad-core to the masses. Is Intel scared of what AMD has in store?

AMD has published yet another set of price cuts this time for its mid- to high-end dual-core desktop CPUs, the Athlon 64 X2. The price cuts published on AMD's website today begin with the Athlon 64 X2 5600+, currently the top-end processor in the range, falling in price from US$505 to US$326, while the next highest model, the 5400+ is reduced even further from US$485 to US$267. The 5200+ and the two versions of the 5000+ (based on 90nm and 65nm processes) each see their prices cut by US$63, from US$295 to US$232 for the 5200+ and from US$285 to US$222 for both 5000+ models. Additionally, two single-core models, the Athlon 64 3800+ and 3500+, have also been reduced slightly by US$8 and US$3 respectively. Click here to see the complete processor pricing list effective February 12, 2007.

TOKYO - Although Sony is blaming its faltering profits partly on PlayStation 3 price cuts in Japan, a senior executive said Wednesday that further slashing prices may be in store for the just-launched video game machine. Pricing is among the factors Sony Corp. (SNE) is studying as it expects to break even in its money-losing gaming business next fiscal year, said Senior Vice President Takao Yuhara, stressing that no additional price cut has been decided. "We may look at the price as part of our strategy to expand the market when the timing is right," Yuhara told reporters at Sony's Tokyo headquarters.

Before the CPU's are available, AMD has decided to cut the prices. QuadFX processors are now $100 cheaper. The FX70 series will cost $499/699/899 for the FX70/72/74, respectively. The FX70 series of AMD CPU's should be available later this month.