CPU update: Supply and demand balance the spot market

USA: According to Converge's Market Insights, in January, the new Intel I9, I7, I5 and I3 families began to flow through the open market. Supply appears stable, and the shortages that had made the start to 2009 so memorable did not materialize this year.

Otherwise, January was stable, with respectable demand across all of the niche markets. Lead time offers, beyond the Chinese New Year holiday, indicated that pricing on the new models would soften in the coming months. However, there are neither large shortages issues nor price gaps with the new product lines.

New off-road parts and the spot market
T6400, T6500 and T6600 are part numbers in great demand in the open market. These parts are sold directly by Intel to only a select few OEMs, meaning the direct channel is the only place to locate a significant quantity of material. P7, T42, T3 and T5 are all parts following the same principle.

Seventy percent of CPU sales are now in this area, with market prices ranging from $40-$170. Intel prefers to guide smaller laptop OEMs toward the higher end of the CPU market, and they run from $200 upward. This places the spot market into the center stage as a solution for the smaller OEMs.

For new off-road parts, Converge has been tracking spot market offers, but pricing does not currently interest OEMs. For example, the new $100 model i3/330m is offered in the spot market at $110-120+; however, the T6600 is priced at far less and the bare bones are still in stock.

We have also seen that the part is being offered in a bundle with chipset i3/330 +hm55, but so far the quantities available remain elusive. The post-Chinese New Year market will reveal opportunities as pricing and supply settle down into definable patterns.