If you take inflation into account the price of CPUs has actually dropped in price in real terms. When I was going though some old documents I found out that I spent over £1,000 for a Pentium 75 system. With inflation that could be around £3,000 in todays value.
inflation is part of the equation, however, not the sole determining factor.
inflation rate from 2001 to 2014 is 32% according to USInflation Rate calculation. speaking from experience, you could purchase an upper mid range chip back then for $150 give or take, factoring in inflation, that's $198, a far cry from the typical $330 you would pay today for a ball park upper mid range chip.
the reason your statement holds value is because PC sales and cost of PC in general has been steadily on a decline. but CPU itself has been on a steady rise. ever since post A64 era, there really isn't anyone giving intel anything sweat for their money. naturally if you're the only biggest game in town, you have the leverage on pricing. just because it's the way it is, it doesn't mean consumers have to like it. which is why I am hoping more competition can spur up in this industry to drive the price back down.
EDIT: just for kicks.. I went back into my newegg purchase history back all the way to 2003, since that's the oldest newegg has record of. back then I purchased an Athlon XP 2100+ thouroughalbred for $106, the equivalent Pentium 4 2.1ghz was slightly higher at $120. factoring in inflation, consumers should be paying $136~$150 for the same ball park. that gives you some perspective, how much cash Intel is raking in lately.
