We reported back in MarchIntel CPUs have quietly risen in price at multiple U.S. retailers, with some models seeing increases of up to 17%, though the suggested retail prices on Intel’s official product pages hadn’t changed yet.
It turns out that foreign media recently discovered that Intel’s currently in relatively good demand and considered relatively competitive Core Ultra 200S Plus series desktop processors have also quietly seen their official suggested retail prices raised. Among them, the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus has been increased from the original $299 to $349, a direct jump of $50, which also raises concerns about whether retail channel prices will see another wave of increases going forward.
Image source: VideoCardz
The official suggested retail price for the Core Ultra 200S Plus has been raised by up to $50, and it’s uncertain whether retail channels will follow suit.
According to foreign media VideoCardz Reports indicate that Intel has adjusted the suggested retail prices listed on the official product pages for the Core Ultra 200S Plus series, with the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus at $339-349, the Core Ultra 5 250K Plus at $219-229, and the Core Ultra 5 250KF Plus at $204-214.
Compared to when it was announced in March, the adjustment this time is quite noticeable. The Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus and Core Ultra 5 250K Plus were initially announced with MSRPs starting at $299 and $199 respectively.
At the high end, the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus goes from $299 to $349, the Core Ultra 5 250K Plus goes from $199 to $229, and the Core Ultra 5 250KF Plus goes from $184 to $214, meaning the increases this time range from $30 to $50.
Of course, the official suggested retail price doesn’t reflect what you’ll actually find at retail stores, as it’s influenced by factors like inventory, local taxes, tariffs, exchange rates, and promotional activities. So a more accurate way to describe this wave is that Intel has raised the official MSRP for the Core Ultra 200S Plus series first. Whether major retailers will follow suit across the board and when that’ll show up in actual prices remains to be seen.
According to foreign media observations, retail prices don’t seem to have fully caught up with the new suggested price ceiling yet.
According to VideoCardz, based on Amazon US price trend data, the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus remains at a high of $319.99, below Intel’s listed new price of $349. The Core Ultra 5 250K Plus is at $219.99, close to the lower end of the new suggested retail price.
Core Ultra 7 270K Plus price on Amazon over the past 30 days:
Image source: VideoCardz
The subtle thing about this round is that Intel didn’t issue a separate public announcement explaining why it adjusted the RCP of the Core Ultra 200S Plus series. Therefore, for now we can only speculate based on the price changes themselves — possibly to bring the suggested prices on the official product pages closer to the actual street prices, or it could be an adjustment Intel made after re-evaluating the product positioning.
However, the price hike has diminished the Core Ultra 200S Plus series’ standout value-for-money proposition that made it compelling at launch.
Source: KOCPC Chinese