Thanks nextyxp, youm0nt, and NGC allalallala for the heads up. Intel Corp. is moving up the introduction of its Pentium 4 processor running at 3.0 gigahertz, an industry source said on Monday, as the world"s largest chipmaker looks to tap the benefits of efficiencies in its chip manufacturing.
Santa Clara, California-based Intel, the world"s No. 1 chip maker, now plans to have the processor to PC makers in time for the year-end holiday shopping season, the source said.
Intel had planned to introduce the 3.0 gigahertz Pentium 4 processor, the brains of a personal computer, by the end of the year. In additional, Intel also is accelerating the introduction of its Pentium 4 running at 2.80 gigahertz, bringing that product rollout to the third quarter, compared with a prior introduction date in the fourth quarter.
When Intel introduces new chips, it typically drops prices on the Pentium and Celeron processors it already has on the market. The accelerated introductions also put Intel farther ahead of its rival, Advanced Micro Devices Inc., in terms of the clock speed of its processors.
By the of the current, third quarter, Intel will be selling a Pentium 4 chip running at 2.8 gigahertz, compared with 1.8 gigahertz for AMD, with its Athlon processors.