With its Core Ultra 200K Plus series, Intel offered a refreshed Arrow Lake lineup, which delivered a good performance-to-price ratio thanks to an increase in the number of cores and higher clock speeds. Performance improved and prices were very competitive until Intel, without explanation, raised the MSRPs of its CPUs. We’ve learned today from a German colleague that Intel is raising the prices of its CPUs due to strong demand and unfavorable market conditions!
Core Ultra 200K Plus: Intel Explains the Price Hike!
Price increases ranging from $30 to $50:
As a reminder, we learned via leaker Jaykihn0 on X that Intel had raised the MSRPs of its refreshed processors on its website. Thus, the new prices are:
- Core Ultra 5 250KF Plus: $184
- Core Ultra 5 250K Plus: $199
- Core Ultra 7 270K Plus: $299
The Core Ultra 5 models have gone up by $30, bringing the price to $214 for the 250KF and $229 for the 250K Plus. In contrast, the price increase is steeper for the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus: a $50 increase, bringing the new price to $349.
Furthermore, if these price increases aren’t yet noticeable, it’s likely because retailers are still selling off their old inventory at the previous prices. However, the total cost will increase when restocking occurs at the new price.
The reasons cited by Intel:
While we hadn’t received an official response from Intel until now, the company has spoken through a spokesperson to a German media outlet. Here is the translation:
“The recent price update reflects current market dynamics, including rising supply chain costs and strong demand for our Core Ultra 200S Plus processors. These updates are in line with recent price increases for other product families based on similar factors.”
Basically, production and shipping costs are rising, and demand for the products is high, so the company has no choice but to raise its selling prices.
