Intel drops 2.5" SSD price

Intel will soon lower prices of its X25-M series of 2.5-inch solid state drives and boost production of its 1.8-inch SSDs, according to a Tuesday DailyTech report. The 160GB X25-M, which uses mulit-level cell flash memory, is now priced at $630 after launching for $945 last December, and is due to get another $100 price cut soon, while the 80GB version of that drive will fall to $270, down $50. Street prices are even lower, as retailers try to make the Intel drives appealing compared to OCZ's Vertex SSDs.

At the same time, the world's largest semiconductor company will also address the limited availability of its 80GB and 160GB 1.8-inch X18-M series SSDs for netbooks and small notebooks by upping production.

For the enterprise server market, which Super Talent attacked first with its UltraDrive SSDs, soon to be followed by OCZ's Vertex EX SSDs, Intel will be bringing out a 128GB SLC drive and a 320GB MLC SSD, with release dates expected to come in the latter half of 2009.

By Electronista Staff