Intel firmly denies rumors that it's planning a price hike for Core CPUs

Intel was said to be considering price hikes for its Core processors, an idea floated by the rumor mill, and one which is wholly untrue, the chip giant has told us in no uncertain terms.

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Rumors about incoming Intel processor price rises have been greatly made-up, we're told by the chip giant (Image Credit: Intel)

This started on the grapevine with a report from German tech site PC Games Hardware, citing word from wholesalers in that country (who allegedly received a letter from Intel). And after that got picked up elsewhere, Intel let Tom's Hardware know that it was completely false.

Intel stated: "Generally, Intel does not comment on speculation regarding price changes to its portfolio. However, we can confirm that Intel has not sent the letter described to customers or partners and has not initiated a price change to its CPU portfolio at this time. We have no further comment to share on the matter."

There were a couple of points about the rumor that made it seem more far-fetched than the usual speculation (which must always be regarded with caution, even from more established sources).

In this case, the original source was about as unestablished as you can get - a member of the PC Games Hardware forum, so yes, just a reader of the site. The details provided by the leaker also included Intel's reasoning for the mentioned (non-existent) price hikes, which included covering the cost of Team Blue's future fab development (and restructuring in general).

Would Intel discuss such reasons in a letter to customers? Surely not.

Even so, PC Games Hardware has let its article stand, and claims to have verified the forum member's findings independently with German wholesalers. The site says it is pleased to read Intel's statement, and hopes that there will be no price hikes, while still leaving the suggestion that we could see price rises next month.

Make of that what you will, but Intel's clarification doesn't leave any room for doubt, not for us anyway.