Intel to Begin Selling New Chips for Laptops

Intel Corp. will start selling 12 new laptop-computer chips today as the biggest semiconductor maker tries to trump rivals such as Advanced Micro Devices Inc. with faster, power-saving products.

The chips include a 1.2-gigahertz mobile Pentium 3 and several low-power models that run slower. Many of the new processors are based on a new manufacturing method that builds thinner wires and helps make smaller, speedier chips.

The notebook computer market has split into several segments as manufacturers try to distinguish themselves with machines that are sleek and light or heavier and more powerful, or a balance of both. That led Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel to create more sub-categories for its processors.

The 1.2G-Hz mobile Pentium 3 sells for $722 each in volume shipments. For lower-power systems, there are two new models of an 800-megahertz chip for $316, plus 750-MHz and 733-MHz parts at $241. A 700-MHz chip for ultra-low-power machines costs $209.

The company introduced two versions of the chip set that helps a processor communicate with the rest of a computer. The new chip sets have integrated graphics features.

Advanced Micro Devices introduced a 1.1-GHz laptop chip in August. Transmeta Corp., a start-up chip maker trying to compete with Intel, has an 800-MHz model.