DISRUPTIONS TO SICHUAN’S transport system after the massive and deadly earthquake last week could mean price increases for several Intel chipsets, according to Digitimes.

The G31, G33 and 945GC, which together make up almost half of all Intel's desktop chipset shipments, are apparently in short supply after the devastating quake ripped up much of the area’s roads and other infrastructure last Monday.

Motherboard makers are apparently now reporting that Intel has upped prices, with the 945GC purportedly seeing a $3 to $4 increase in thousand-unit tray quantities, (around $19 each now), the G31 climbing from $23 to between $25 and $27 and the G33 going from $28 to $31.

Customers aren’t likely to feel the impact of any price changes, however, as Digitimes reports that motherboard manufacturers will probably suck up the costs themselves, in order to not risk losing their market share.

Intel’s chip packaging factory in Chengdu, only 100km away from the epicentre of the deadly quake, was apparently left unscathed. Production resumed last Friday, only four days after the disaster, and the company has said that its products are shipping from the factory’s warehouse.

Intel denied it had been exploiting the situation with price hikes. µ

L’Inq
Digitimes

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