By K R Nambiar
Intel’s channels are finding few buyers for its newly-launched Core i7 processors. The reasons range from a slowdown in the economy to the prohibitive costs of building blocks used to build systems with Core i7.
Core i7, which was previously code-named Nehalem, had won rave reviews across the globe. However, it has so far received lukewarm response in India because the cost of building a full-fledged system based on it is approximately Rs 50,000. This is largely because the mainboards supporting Nehalem only support DDR3 memory, which though superior in performance to DDR2 memory modules, costs more than thrice. Moreover, the cheapest available motherboard supporting Nehalem is currently the Intel BOXDX58SO, which is priced at just over Rs 15,000 on the street. “Unfortunately, the current economic situation does not help either, as the usual buyers of high-end technologies have also tightened their purses,” commented Sunil Kumar, CEO of Bangalore-based Lampo Computers.
Though vendors such as Transcend and Kingston have launched their DDR3 memory modules, the prices are steep. The street price of a 2 GB DDR2 memory was less than Rs 1,000 in mid-Jan, but 2 GB DDR3-1333 was priced at about Rs 3,500.
Intel distributors are said to be carrying limited stock of the processors. “Demand is low, and anyone who asks for the motherboard and processor is usually discouraged after hearing the price,” informed a Senior Manager at an Intel distributor.
“While some of the leading motherboard makers have announced Nehalem-ready boards, availability is low. It’s easier convincing a customer to buy a Quad Core-based system that performs a few notches below a Core i7 but which can be configured for under Rs 25,000,” said Suhail Ahmed of Digit Mart.
However, Rajesh Gupta, Intel’s Sales Director (West), argued, “The response has been excellent and sales have been to our satisfaction. Any processor launched in the premium segment is expected to generate sales at a moderate volume to begin with, and our experience with Core i7 processor-based systems has been more than normal.” Gupta said that by Q32009, DDR3 prices will probably be on par with DDR2, and at around the same time Intel will make available cheaper motherboards for the new platform.
As per the norm, Intel has announced price cuts ranging from 5-24 percent on its Core line of processors, although this, according to partners, is not as aggressive as they had expected. While there are minor price cuts on many processors, and larger cuts on some of the slow-moving processors, the focus is on the newly positioned Intel Core2Duo E7400 and Pentium Dual Core 5200. This quarter the fastest-moving processor is expected to be the Pentium Dual Core 5200, now available at Rs 3,500.
Intel is also expected to debut three new Core 2 Quad processors with a 65W rating compared to around 95W for most of the current processors. These processors are the Q8200s, Q9400s and Q9550s. |