AMD says no more price cuts

Author: Brett Thomas
Published: 18th July 2007
Comments (12) Stumble
AMD says no more price cuts

"Cheap as chips" - AMD's chips won't be any cheaper anytime soon - the company has denounced further price cuts.

Ah, price wars are great, aren't they? I personally love the smell of dollar-laced napalm in the morning. It seems like AMD and Intel are at it again, what with the new cuts by Big Blue on July 22nd. You can go get a quad-core for just £160!

Of course, if we're honest, Intel needed those cuts to compete with AMD's now nearly ridiculous prices. Prices which, according to the company, won't be going any lower anytime soon.

Gary Bixler, AMD's Director of Marketing for North America, dropped the bomb on Monday. "We've tried to be very transparent on price actions. Things got crazy last year, but this year we made it a point to provide the channel with what it wants, which is a predictable business, a stable business," Bixler said. "We communicated that price move well in advance to our channel partners. We haven't announced our next price move yet, so take that at face-value -- another one is not imminent."

He also went on to explain that the price cuts, which only took place a bit over a week ago, are not a reaction to the expected Intel cuts. Instead, he asserted them as simply bringing more value to the marketplace now that the AM2 chip line is starting to mature, and Barcelona is on the horizon. System builders seem to collaborate AMD's statement, saying that they were given several months' notice before the sharp drops on July 9th.

Bixler also dropped some hints on a change in the way AMD handles its third-party north- and south-bridge chipsets, which have been made in the past by companies like NVIDIA, ULI (now part of NVIDIA) and ATI (now a subsidiary of AMD). These chipsets gave the AMD platform a lot more variety and proved to be widely favoured by enthusiasts, but also lacked much of the stability needed for the mass market.

AMD's Validation Service, or AVS, is slated to get a re-tooling come August, most likely thanks to AMD's ownership of ATI - one of its best chipset partners. The service started last year to help provide support for flakier chipsets to system builders, but the damage had already caused many to shy away from using AMD setups. Whether this change will bring more builders back to the green camp is unknown, but it certainly couldn't hurt.

Do you have a thought on AMD's statement? Share it with the rest of our community.
Quote capnPedro 18th July 2007, 15:28
:'( I was anticipating some more price slashings in a few weeks time. I couldn't have been more wrong :(.
Quote xion 18th July 2007, 16:45
I really hope AMD can maintain enough market share to remain financially viable, the last thing we need is for Intel to have complete market dominance; why lower prices when there's no competition?
Quote The_Beast 18th July 2007, 17:00
Quote:
the last thing we need is for Intel to have complete market dominance; why lower prices when there's no competition?

now that would really suck
Quote proxess 18th July 2007, 17:39
AMD prices are already low, but I was anticipating a price cut as well. Intel are really cutting themselves and they're cutting way above their knees. They surely are winning, I think.
Quote Krikkit 18th July 2007, 17:44
I'm glad AMD aren't going mad over this price-war thing, the last thing they need to do now is start panicking - investors/stockholders don't like rash moves, and once the investors/stockholders go, AMD's down the pan. I don't think we need to worry too much, AMD are still in pretty good shape financially, don't forget they still make money from OEM's etc as well as supplying the server market.
Quote:
Originally Posted by xion
...the last thing we need is for nVidia to have complete market dominance; why lower prices when there's no competition?
Fixed for the graphics status-quo. Unfortunately I think it's round 1 to nVidia in the DX10 war.
Quote capnPedro 18th July 2007, 19:31
Quote:
Originally Posted by xion
I really hope AMD can maintain enough market share to remain financially viable, the last thing we need is for Intel to have complete market dominance; why lower prices when there's no competition?

QFT. This is why I still buy AMD. Intel may be the current king of the hill, but I still buy AMD even when the chips have less grunt. If people don't buy AMD proccys, Intel will have a monopoly and that won't benefit anyone.

Plus I like AMD. I'm a fanboy, I know. I don't care if they aren't the absolute best, I just feel like I want to stick with AMD.
Quote LeMaltor 18th July 2007, 20:05
Quote:
Originally Posted by capnPedro
QFT. This is why I still buy AMD. Intel may be the current king of the hill, but I still buy AMD even when the chips have less grunt. If people don't buy AMD proccys, Intel will have a monopoly and that won't benefit anyone.

Plus I like AMD. I'm a fanboy, I know. I don't care if they aren't the absolute best, I just feel like I want to stick with AMD.

If they cannot compete why reward them with irrational buying? There's no incentive for them to improve if people buy the crap they are already producing, if you want to help AMD do not buy their products until they improve their performance/price. Then again it is your money, so do what you like lol :P
Quote Kaboom22 18th July 2007, 20:10
Slight inacuracy, the nickname Big Blue is attributed to IBM, not intel.
Quote capnPedro 18th July 2007, 20:25
They cannot improve if they go out of business.
Quote Tulatin 19th July 2007, 01:47
Yeah but likewise they will not improve if people continue to purchase their product, though inferior.
Quote Yraen 19th July 2007, 03:13
The article makes it sound like Intel is responding to AMD's price cuts when Intel's price cuts have been known about for months now. It also makes it sound like AMD is the one controlling when price cuts will take place, when all they are doing is what they have been doing for years now; dropping prices right before Intel's price cuts. Everyone seems to think "price war" when this happens and expect prices to be slashed back and forth, but this is the same game we've seen played out the last few years.

The title of the article shouldn't be "AMD says no more price cuts", rather it should be "AMD price cuts are already in effect" or something along those lines. This line; "Of course, if we're honest, Intel needed those cuts to compete with AMD's now nearly ridiculous prices." should have been thought out a little better also. Intel doesn't need those price cuts to compete with AMD's prices, AMD had to lower prices to compete with the cut Intel is about to make.

See here for more information.
Quote zoot2boot 24th July 2007, 07:34
"System builders seem to collaborate AMD's statement, saying that they were given several months' notice before the sharp drops on July 9th."

lol, i think he means corroborate.
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