Intel Press Release

Intel Announces Celeron® as the Latest Brand to Join Intel Inside® Program

Celeron To Be the New Brand Name for Basic PC Processors

SANTA CLARA, Calif., March 4, 1998 - Intel Corporation today announced that it will have a new brand name, Celeron®, for a processor that will be designed for Basic PCs. Basic PCs meet the core needs and affordability requirements common to many new PC users. Intel's Celeron processor - based upon the same Intel P6 microarchitecture on which the Pentium® II processor is based - will offer a cost-effective solution for PC manufacturers designing Basic PC systems.

"This is a very logical step in the evolution of our 'Intel Inside®' branding strategy," said Dennis Carter, vice president, Intel Corporate Marketing. "The purpose of having separate brands is to give users the ability to quickly and easily identify the computer with the processor that best suits their needs, from Performance PCs down to Basic PCs."

The Celeron processor product will be announced in April with systems available for purchase by midyear. In addition to the Celeron brand, Intel later this year will introduce a new branded processor for enterprise servers and workstations. Processors designed for Enthusiast/Professional and mainstream Performance PC's will remain under the Pentium II brand name.

One Core Product, Multiple Segments
Recently, at the Intel Developer Forum, Intel Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Andrew S. Grove outlined Intel's strategy of developing products for a broad range of market segments. "We are aggressively moving Intel Architecture into the entry level, which we call Basic Computing," Grove said. "At the same time, we are focusing on moving up into some of the most powerful segments of computing - workstations and enterprise servers." Grove pointed out that the once singularly focused market has now diversified into many specific segments, all of which demand specific, unique features. For example, Intel will be adding more cache for processors designed for high-end servers; cutting costs for processors designed for Basic PCs; and creating more efficient packaging for processors used in mobile PCs.

Basic PC Market
Personal Computers used to be one size fits all. Today the desktop PC market can be characterized by three categories:

  • At the top of the consumer line, the "Enthusiast PC" appeals to consumers looking for the latest technology, advanced design, and peak performance for today and tomorrow's demanding PC applications, such as leading-edge Internet content, games and media-rich educational titles. At the business high end, the "Professional PC" has the power to handle visually rich content applications while providing superior multitasking capability with manageability innovations. Such PCs typically start at (U.S.) $2500.
  • "Performance PCs" are targeted at home and business users alike who are looking for a full-featured PC that offers solid performance and flexibility to run the latest education, creativity, and entertainment applications in the home, and the best productivity applications in business. Performance PCs offer performance headroom and configuration flexibility to adapt to the user's needs for tomorrow and are priced at approximately (U.S.) $1300-$2400.
  • "Basic PCs" (U.S. $800-$1200) provide a base level of functionality with limited expandability to meet the core needs and affordability requirements common to many new home and business users.

Intel's prior strategy has been to design ever-more powerful processors aimed at the top end of the computer market segment as previous-generation chips migrated to the lower-end market segment. Today, Intel's new strategy is to use one core technology as a foundation for developing a range of processor products designed specifically to meet the needs of multiple segments.

* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.