Top

Intel plans surcharge for Atom chips in ION netbooks

May 14, 2009 at 3:49 pm


Nvidia IONNvidia’s ION platform consists of Intel’s Atom processor combined with Nvidia’s 9400M GPU. The combination is said to bring significant benefits to both 3D and HD performance. Whilst some ION products have already been spotted in the wild with some official ION announcements expected at Computex Taipei, Intel may have placed a stumbling block on the ION’s future success.

Intel CEO, Paul Otellini, yesterday confirmed that Intel is charging more for the Atom CPU by itself than it does if combined with the Intel chipset. “We have historically offered better pricing to people who buy more product,” Otellini said. Several OEMs have said that whilst buying the cheaper Atom CPU and chipset and then swapping it for ION is possible, the process is cost and time prohibitive.

Nvidia’s CEO recently claimed that adding ION would add an incremental $50 to the cost of a netbook. However, once you account for the higher Atom processors, the cost may be just too high for some manufacturers to adopt.

Via Laptop Mag.

Comments

54 Responses to “Intel plans surcharge for Atom chips in ION netbooks”

  1. zacharychaos said:
    May 18th, 2009 6:26 AM

    Isn’t that illegal under antitrust laws? Good thing Intel knows all about that!

Bottom