AMD doubles up on Intel price war

AMD has further lowered the prices of its Athlon desktop processors up to 60 per cent.

The chipmaker slashed the prices for its top of the line 3GHz chip to $799, down from $999. Prices for the Athlon 64 X2 5600+ saw the largest price drop, falling from $505 to $241.

The price drop came on the same day that the chipmaker launched a corporate restructuring in which it aims to cut $500m in annual expenses following a drop in revenues. In a statement the company blamed the move on the prolonged price war with rival chipmaker Intel.

After seeing its market share slip, Intel last summer drastically lowered its chip prices. This forced AMD to follow suit and has allowed Intel to take back some of the market share that is lost.

Nor Intel and AMD show any sign of fatigue. Both companies continue to invest heavily in new manufacturing plants for next generation 45nm chips. The abundance of chips that those factories will produce is expected to keep prices low for years to come.