In addition to the announcement of the Pentium 4-M 2.40GHz processor and i852GM core-logic (see this news-story), Intel also reduced its prices on the processors intended for notebooks. The reduction is quite significant: from 10% to 38% on different CPUs, including Pentium 4-M, Celeron and Pentium III-M chips.

Here is how the market of “mobile” processors looks now:

Intel Mobile Processors' Pricing vs. AMD Mobile Processors' Pricing
Intel Pentium 4-M	Price	Intel Pentium III-M	Price	Intel Pentium III-M LV/ULV	Price	Intel Celeron Mobile	Price	Intel Celeron Mobile LV/ULV	Price	AMD Mobile Athlon XP / Duron CPUs	Price
Pentium 4-M 2.40GHz	$562	-
Pentium 4-M 2.20GHz	$348	-
Pentium 4-M 2.0GHz	$241	-				Celeron 2.0GHz	$149	-
Pentium 4-M 1.90GHz	$198	-								Athlon XP 1900+	$186
Pentium 4-M 1.80GHz	$171	-				Celeron 1.80GHz	$134	-		Athlon XP 1800+	$186
Pentium 4-M 1.70GHz	$171	-				Celeron 1.70GHz	$112	-		Athlon XP 1700+	$145
-						Celeron 1.60GHz	$96	-		Athlon XP 1600+	$119
-						Celeron 1.50GHz	$96	-		Athlon XP 1500+	$99
-		Pentium III-M 1.333GHz	$508	-						Athlon XP 1400+	$99
-		Pentium III-M 1.226GHz	$401	-						Duron 1.30GHz	$89
-		Pentium III-M 1.1200GHz	$348	-						Duron 1.20GHz	$69
-		Pentium III-M 1.130GHz	$268	-						Duron 1.10GHz	$59
-				Pentium III-M LV 1.0GHz	$241	-				Duron 1.0GHz	$59
-				Pentium III-M LV 933MHz	$198	-
-				Pentium III-M ULV 933MHz	$209	-
-				Pentium III-M ULV 900MHz	$209	-
-				Pentium III-M LV 866MHz	$198	-
-				Pentium III-M ULV 866MHz	$209	-		Celeron LV 866MHz	$134	-
-				Pentium III-M ULV 850MHz	$209	-
-								Celeron ULV 800MHz	$144	-
-								Celeron ULV 733MHz	$144	-
-								Celeron ULV 700MHz	$144	-
-								Celeron LV 700MHz	$96	-
Intel Pentium 4-M	Price	Intel Pentium III-M	Price	Intel Pentium III-M LV/ULV	Price	Intel Celeron Mobile	Price	Intel Celeron Mobile LV/ULV	Price	AMD Mobile Athlon XP / Duron CPUs	Price

Note that AMD does not sell their higher-end Athlon XP 2200+, 2100+ and 2000+ processors with PowerNow! technology and reduced power consumption as mobile processors, but position them as desktop replacement CPUs. Although it was logical to note the pricing of these processors in the table, considering the fact that Intel also positions its higher-end Pentium 4-M parts for portable, but not mobile platform, but eventually I decided not to mention AMD’s desktop chips with lowered power consumption here, as they use up to 35W of energy, while even the fastest Pentium 4-M utilise about 30W in typical conditions. Since we currently examine mobile processors, let us not talk about those, which are intended for ordinary desktop PCs.

As you may notice, Pentium 4-M processors are now cheaper, however, not as cheap as they should become later this year, when Intel starts to push its Centrino platform and reduce the difference between Pentium 4 and Pentium 4-M processor’s prices to 10%-15% (see this news-story for more details).

As for the market of mobile CPUs on the whole, it is clear that Intel has much more favourable positions here. The Santa Clara, California-based microprocessors giant can offer faster processors with higher gross-margins, while AMD sells cheaper CPUs earning less money. Given that there are very few fast and reliable chipsets with low power consumption for the Athlon XP processors (honestly speaking, I can remember only one: ATI’s RADEON IGP-320M), AMD’s position on this market becomes really weak, keeping in mind that Intel will substantially lower the prices on the Pentium 4-M products in about a quarter time from now.

It should be noted that the market is simply flooded with loads of Intel processors for every mobile application and for every price, performance and power consumption point, therefore, a lot of vendors choose Intel just because they can receive numerous benefits and discounts.