Intel Freeze Notebook CPU Prices Until June; Calpella Delayed

After the recent cost juggling between AMD and Intel, you'd expect Intel to continue the pressure with some more price-cuts and maybe even a new CPU or two.  However according to the latest market reports, the company has in fact told manufacturing partners not to expect any further discounts on notebook chips before the end of May, and is considering delaying the next generation Calpella platform (the next significant alteration to the current Centrino 2 platform) until demand from consumers and OEMs improves.

According to the report, Intel will wait until June at the earliest to cut the cost of certain models in its notebook CPU range.  The changes will affect chips like the Core 2 Duo T9600, with cuts between 13 and 40-percent predicted. 

The news may surprise analysts, many of whom believed that Intel would further slash its chip prices this quarter in a response to its poor 2008 financial performance.  However this alternate approach gives manufacturers the opportunity to clear current inventory and may potentially dissuade consumers eager to upgrade from waiting.