So, it's true that Intel increased the prices of these processors, but they didn't disclose the reason publicly.
Intel Confirms Price Hike for Core Ultra 200S Plus Series by $30-$50; Says, "Rising Supply Chain Costs" and "Strong Demand" are the Reasons for the Hike
Recently, we spotted changes in the recommended customer price for some Intel Arrow Lake chips, particularly the Core Ultra 200S "Plus" series. The price hike was sudden and unexpected. However, it wasn't a mistake on Intel's part, as it has finally confirmed that the price hike is official. That said, the new processors will now officially cost more than they launched at.
The report comes from Hardware Luxx, which spoke to Intel about the changes on the official website. If you have read our previous report, you might know that the Arrow Lake Refresh CPUs got a price hike of $30-$50 based on the processor model. The Core Ultra 7 270K Plus received a significant hike, and now sits at $349 instead of $299 on the official website. Both the Core Ultra 5 250K Plus and Core Ultra 5 250KF Plus are now $30 costlier than before, sitting at $229 and $214, respectively.
The recent pricing updates reflect current market dynamics, including rising supply chain costs and strong demand for our Intel Core Ultra 200S Plus processors. These updates are in line with recent price increases for other Intel product families based on similar factors.
- Intel to Hardware Luxx
Hardware Luxx reports that Intel confirmed the price hike in a statement, citing reasons such as "strong demand" and "rising supply chain costs". The statement indicates that these are the current market dynamics Intel is currently facing, which has forced the company to increase the prices of these three processors. As of now, no such hike has been reported for the regular Core Ultra 200S series.
Only three SKUs are affected, and these are the only SKUs that sell well in the entire family. Unfortunately, when these CPUs get expensive, they are prone to losing share in the market noticeably. They are already lagging behind Ryzen 9000 and even Ryzen 5000 series CPUs when it comes to sales. Core Ultra 7 270K Plus, being the best seller on Amazon, remains out of the top 10 best-selling CPUs list.
Currently, these processors are already selling for $10-$20 higher than their recommended customer price, and once the new pricing adjustment takes effect, we would likely see them selling for higher than the newly announced prices.
News Source: Hardware Luxx
About the author: Sarfraz Khan is a hardware reporter with a focus on PC components and the builder community. With years of experience writing about PC hardware and laptops, his work has been featured on several reputable technology publications. Sarfraz's hands-on experience is demonstrated through his first-person accounts of using and comparing different hardware configurations, providing practical and relatable insights for everyday users. His technical analysis is respected by peers in the enthusiast community and has been cited by specialized hardware sites such as Germany's Igor's Lab.
Follow Wccftech on Google to get more of our news coverage in your feeds.
