Intel slashing prices by 60 percent

In a dramatic bid to recapture market share, Intel will cut Pentium prices by up to 60 percent, according to a Bloomberg.com report.

Some of the chipmaker's Taiwan-based customers, including Micro-star and Gigabyte Technology, said they were informed by Intel officials that the price cuts would go into effect on July 23.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. Rival Advanced Micro Devices reported last month that its market share had increased to more than 20 percent for the first time in four years. Also last month, Dell bought AMD chips for its computers for the first time.