Intel Cuts Chip Prices 13% to 40%

Santa Clara-based Intel Corp., in a continuing effort to unload older chips and ensure acceptance of its new MMX technology, announced markdowns of 13% to 40%, effective Saturday. The biggest cuts are for older microprocessors. The news may cheer PC shoppers because manufacturers usually pass such reductions along to consumers. The cuts are not as deep as last summer’s, which ranged from 30% to 50%. A year ago, however, strong demand allowed Intel to skip its usual fall markdowns. Chip makers pressured by falling PC prices and Intel’s latest reductions could mean that some of the low-cost machines may sport chips with multimedia-enhancing, or MMX, technology.