Compaq cuts prices, readies new lines

Compaq Computer is readying new Pentium Pro desktop systems and paring prices as much as 28 percent on its current lines.

Brooke Crothers Former CNET contributor

Brooke Crothers writes about mobile computer systems, including laptops, tablets, smartphones: how they define the computing experience and the hardware that makes them tick. He has served as an editor at large at CNET News and a contributing reporter to The New York Times' Bits and Technology sections. His interest in things small began when living in Tokyo in a very small apartment for a very long time.

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Brooke Crothers

May 7, 1996 12:30 p.m. PT

Compaq Computer is simultaneously readying new Pentium Pro desktop systems and paring prices as much as 28 percent on its current lines.

Sometime before the PC Expo trade show in June, Compaq is expected to roll out revisions of the Pentium Pro-based Prolinea and Deskpro models that will incorporate the new Natoma chipset technology announced by Intel yesterday.

"Initially, there will be a rev of older systems then a complete design," said one source familiar with Compaq's plans.

In the meantime, the company is cutting prices on its Deskpro XL and Prolinea E lines. For example, the Deskpro XL 6150 will drop from $4,999 to $3,699, while the Prolinea 6150e will plunge from $3,999 to $2,899.

"This is their way of raising their hands and saying we're cutting prices [on current shipping systems] while others are just announcing systems that they're not even shipping yet," said Richard Zwetchkenbaum, an analyst at market research firm International Data Corporation. Compaq's decision to cut prices is also a response to Intel price cuts for the Pentium Pro announced last week, Zwetchkenbaum said.

Compaq also reduced prices of up to 15 percent for servers based on the Pentium processor and lowered prices of key options, such as memory and monitors, by as much as 40 percent.