Vendors dropping older inventory as newer technology emerges is nothing new. Thus it is no surprise to hear about Intel planning a decline in the number of Centrino shipments, particularly for older hardware. The plan is, apparently, to make the Montevina platform, now called Centrino 2, to take the spotlight in 2Q 2008 and make up the bulk of shipments by the end of the year.

This means Santa Rosa will be in decline, and is estimated to be only about a third of shipments in the second quarter. That includes Core 2 Duo processor-based platforms for Santa Rosa and Penryn as well. In the same breath, they are also expecting to drop prices for Santa Rosa, perhaps to encourage the old inventory to move.