Intel CPUs could get more expensive – so should we worry about Raptor Lake pricing?

Intel is looking to hike prices to make up for rising production costs

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Intelcould push through some potentially considerable price hikes onprocessorsand some other components, according to a new report.

Obviously as with any such speculation, treat it as just that – informed gossip from the grapevine, which in this case comes from three industry executives with direct knowledge of Intel’s purported plans, whoNikkei Asiatapped for info.

Word is that in the autumn, Intel will increase asking prices for CPUs, models for bothserversanddesktop PCs, as well as some other chips such asWi-Fimodules.

While Intel supposedly hasn’t yet settled on a magnitude for the hikes, they could run up to 20% according to the report, though some products may have less substantial single-digit percentage increases.

Intel has apparently already informed business customers about this incoming move, with the reasoning given that these rises are required to match ‘surging’ costs of materials and manufacturing.

Analysis: Time to start getting concerned about Raptor Lake pricing?

Well, this sounds like a rather troubling picture, doesn’t it? No sooner are we breathing sighs of relief aboutgraphics card pricing finally coming down to normal levels, and in some cases,well below MSRP, and now we hear that processors are going to be getting costlier? In a word: bah.

Of course, it’s only Intel supposedly facing these cost demons – if this report is correct – but if there are broader pressures on production costs and bill of materials, is it all that much of a stretch to imagine thatAMDmight face some of these problems, too? At least to some extent?

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Okay, we mustn’t get carried away with theorizing here, but indulge us one more time – this report also makes us rather concerned about the potential pricing of Intel’s incomingRaptor Lakeprocessors. With autumn mentioned as the timing for these price hikes, we know that the 13th-gen CPUs are due most likely in October –maybe with a late September reveal– and that puts the chips squarely in that timeframe.

Only time will tell on that score, but we would think there’d be a limit on how far Intel can push to offset any losses on the production front, certainly with consumer CPUs – given that inflationary pressures and the general cost-of-living crisis are doubtless going to be cutting back demand for hardware as it is, going forward.

We’d guess at the bigger increases to come with server processors, then, and perhaps higher-end CPUs for consumers, mainly because the more affluent PC enthusiasts out there who typically have their eyes Core i9 chips are going to have budgets that are subject to less of an impact by the current economic woes around.

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Darren is a freelancer writing news and features for TechRadar (and occasionally T3) across a broad range of computing topics including CPUs, GPUs, various other hardware, VPNs, antivirus and more. He has written about tech for the best part of three decades, and writes books in his spare time (his debut novel - ‘I Know What You Did Last Supper’ - was published by Hachette UK in 2013).

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