Intel Reportedly Set to Apply Huge Discounts to Some Alder Lake CPUs

Edit – Intel has responded directly to us here at eTeknix with the following comments:

“Rumors of a price drop on Intel PC processors are incorrect. At this time, we have products from our 11th, 12th and 13th generation families that cover a range of price points, and Intel is committed to working with OEMs to find ways to generate demand and move inventory.”

With Intel’s 13th-gen Raptor Lake processors now well-established on the market, we are entering the typical retail phase when we can likely expect to see their last-gen models get some fairly nice discounts. And I daresay that many of you might have been patiently waiting for this and particularly so if you had your eyes on something like the i9-12900KS.

Rather surprisingly, however, early last month Intel confirmed that it had actually raised the RRP (recommended retail price) of its 12th-gen Alder Lake processors. – Following a report via Videocardz, however, I am beginning to develop a theory that Intel may have only raised the prices here so that an upcoming price cut could, in a cynical piece of marketing, make the rumoured upcoming discounts look significantly more substantial than they really are!

Intel to Price Cut Alder Lake Processors?

Now, I should note that the upcoming discounts for Alder Lake processors are just a rumour. Based on the information, however, while it’s understood that not all models are expected to receive a price cut, Intel may look to reduce their RRP on many models by as much as 20%.

Now, on the surface, this sounds very impressive. It could, for example, see an i9-12900K drop to around $500 (or slightly less). Lest we forget though that, as noted above, Intel adjusted the recommended price of this processor only last month which saw it increase from circa $590 to around $650. – And I should note the distinction between Intel’s recommended retail price and what retailers are actually selling it for (which is quite notably less).

Reading between the lines though, while Intel might potentially get out all the bunting out for a ‘major 20% discount on Alder Lake’, the reality of the situation is that they may have solely put the RRP up last month so that they can get this significantly more eye-catching 20% figure than merely something of around 10%.

Maybe I’m just being cynical here. And yes, price cuts are always nice regardless of how winding the road is that eventually take us there. What do you think though? – Let us know in the comments!