As expected, Intel Corp. has lowered pricing on an array of microprocessors based on various micro-architectures, a move that will boost the demand towards more powerful chips from the company and allows to introduce higher-performance model going forward, which will all increase pressure on its smaller rival Advanced Micro Devices.

The price slashes vary from 6% to 40% depending on the processor model, but the most remarkable drops can be noticed in Core 2 family of microprocessors. After the price slash of 38%, Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 processor now costs $530, a much lower price-point than $851, making microprocessors with four processing engines far more affordable for general public. The cheapest Core 2 Duo, the model E4300, now costs $113, whereas the highest-performing part is now priced at $316 in 1000-unit quantities, 40% lower than before.

Intel also reduced pricing of value Intel Pentium D and Celeron D and M processor series, sending dual-core Pentium D central processing units to $74 price-point.

Besides, Intel reduced prices on Intel Xeon 3000- and 3200-series processors  by 9% to 40%, which makes quad-core Xeon X3210 and X3220 for single-processor systems available at pretty low price-points of $423 and $530, respectively, which means that lowest-cost quad-core chip now costs just a little higher than $400.

Intel typically does not release any statements concerning its price decreases.