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Intel cuts SSD prices

09 February 2009 14:48 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Aynur Veliyeva â€“ APA-Economics. Intel has dashed the prices in its line of solid-state drives. The company didnâ€™t detail the reason behind the drop, which saw its X25-M 80 GB notebook drive drop from $595 to $390 and its X25-E 32 GB enterprise SSD drop from $695 to $415. The 160 GB X25-M has also dropped from its $945 launch price to $765, a savings of nearly $200 for eager solid-state consumers.
The price cuts could also signal Intelâ€™s desire to pave the way for a less expensive solid-state drive to come. The company is expected to launch its largest solid-state drive yet, a 320 GB variant, in the fourth quarter of this year. By the time that hits, 512 GB solid-state drives will already be on the market and terabyte SSD might very well be available as well.
Intel has secured the performance crown with its consumer-focused X25-M solid-state drives, but itâ€™s in line to be crushed by competing capacity points. If the company is able to lower its price-per-gigabyte ratio for the drives, it could remain competitive against (assuredly) more expensive, higher-capacity models. After all, consumersâ€™ chief criticism of solid state drives isnâ€™t their capacity points or speeds. Few outside of the enterprise market are willing to pay four-figure sums for speedy, high-capacity solid-state storage. Although it has a ways to go before it can stand against the price points of competing solid-state drive manufacturers, Intelâ€™s cuts represent an understanding that the war of the solid-state drive isnâ€™t going to be over the fastest bits and bytes, rather, the fewest dollars and cents.