AMD Athlon XP 2400+ Processors in Japanese Retail

As we were informed by several retailers from all around the world, the Athlon XP 2400+ and 2600+ CPUs will be supplied to AMD’s partners by the end of October, with the 2400+ version a bit earlier than the 2600+. It seems that the sources were correct enough to make the statements, since AMD’s Athlon XP 2400+ (2GHz) chip appeared in Japanese retail this week.

The novelties are manufactured on the Dresden-based Fab30 using advanced 0.13 micron technology on the 41st week, in early October. The processors are priced between $178 and $199, while the official 1000-unit price from AMD is $193. In fact, AMD constantly sells its chips below the official cost: AMD prices on microprocessors that can be found on the web-site of this company are always higher than those found in retail channels. More importantly, AMD does not offer its partners any insurance for the case of price-reduction and also sometimes declines the costs without announcing it. The result of such policy is clear: those who had not managed to sell AMD products before the rival got them for cheaper price, have to sell them of with losses. This sometimes forces AMD’s partners to get the CPUs on the grey market. Basically, now AMD continues to follow the same policy, at least, I hope they know what they are doing.