Intel has a new CPU on the way, this one aimed exclusively at the as of yet unreleased Skulltrail platform. That means the CPU will also be aimed only at the enthusiast market, and will be carrying an enthusiast price.
The new Core 2 Extreme QX9775 will have a high clock frequency of 3.2GHz, utilizing a 1600MHz FSB. The CPU won't be a lightweight on your pocketbook at $1500. That price, while obscene, is probably largely due to the CPU being essentially the quad-core Xeon family, and will be able to support multiple physical CPUs.
Typically the super high end desktop CPUs do not sell much, so clearly Intel is trying to keep attention away from the impending release of Phenom.