Originally posted by: Idontcare
Originally posted by: Denithor
Intel gets more 45nm chips from the 300mm wafer than they do with the 65nm chips. Therefore their profit margin is higher if they sell at the same price point.
So, tell me, exactly why they should keep the Q6600 around any longer than they have to?
Their pricing makes perfect sense - the Q8300 @ 2.5GHz/4MB should be a direct/slightly better replacement at the same price point. The Q9400 @ $220 is a nice deal and the Q9550 @ $270 forces AMD to drop the price of their PII 940.
And for retailers it's better also - fewer models to inventory. As chips go EOL you will see some retailers clear out inventory (Q6600 @ $159, Q9300 @ $189, etc) while others will just sit on the chips at original prices and wait for people with no other choices to buy them (if your board doesn't support 45nm and you need a quad - guess what, you're paying $189 for a Q6600, even if a Q9550 is eventually available for $150 or something).
They have excess 65nm capacity, so the incremental cost for producing Q6600 follows a rational outlined in the post above.
This is not the case for 45nm capacity. To build more 45nm chips they need to invest in more 45nm capacity (same situation AMD is in). So the cost structure is not incremental, it involves capex.
Originally posted by: Denithor
Intel gets more 45nm chips from the 300mm wafer than they do with the 65nm chips. Therefore their profit margin is higher if they sell at the same price point.
This is true if they do not own any 45nm or 65nm fabs/equipment or if they have excess capacity of both. It also assumes the yields and per-wafer production costs are such for both 65nm and 45nm that the result is that 45nm mm^2 costs less than 65nm mm^2.
This is not a given as yields take time to reach maturity (likely pass that point for Intel) and successive process nodes always cost more per wafer to produce than prior nodes (more metal levels, more process steps, etc).
At any rate the Q6600 is an EOL product to be discontinued this summer. So the timeline is such that their numbers agree with your expectations.