英特尔新处理器能否助推PC销售？

    周一上午，英特尔（Intel）在旧金山举行的媒体发布会上推出了第三代酷睿（Core）处理器。这种代号为Ivy Bridge的新处理器现在可用于桌面电脑和普通的笔记本电脑，并且有望在未来几个月里适用于超级本（Ultrabooks，可与苹果MacBook Air相抗衡的超轻薄笔记本电脑）。

    第三代酷睿处理器首次使用了英特尔的22纳米3D Tri-Gate晶体管技术。这意味着什么？速度更快、能效更高的PC将会出现。谁关心PC呢？首先就是英特尔。

    尽管近期发布了移动处理器，但英特尔远远算不上是快速发展的移动芯片市场的真正玩家。英特尔的身家性命还是维系在PC行业上。因此，英特尔将在未来数年拼命振兴个人电脑需求，并保持摩尔定律。为此，这家总部位于圣克拉拉市的芯片制造商力推超级本，一种新的节能型超轻薄笔记本电脑。市场调研公司IDC估计，2012年超级本全球销量将达3,000万至4,000万台。即将发布的、以触摸操作为最大特色的微软Windows 8操作系统预计将催生采用英特尔处理器、平板和笔记本双用的新型电脑。

    不过，由英特尔的竞争对手英国公司ARM设计的芯片也将应用于运行Windows 8的设备。因此，虽然这款新操作系统为英特尔再次施展PC魔法提供了机会，但也将带来新的竞争。

    但有件事情非常明确。与ARM不同，英特尔财大气粗并且花起钱来毫不吝啬，因此可以不遗余力地推广超级本。他们邀请will.i.am（黑眼豆豆的灵魂人物）助阵，为超级本打造“酷”的形象。在周一上午举行的媒体发布会上，英特尔还播放了一个制作精美的视频介绍Ivy Bridge架构处理器。

    在当天发布的新闻稿里，英特尔宣称新的处理器将“为PC带来激动人心的新体验和新乐趣”。更出色的性能、富媒体和图像是很不错，但普通的笔记本电脑买家更关心价格，而不是摩尔定律和最新最好的芯片技术。要想真正吸引消费者，英特尔必须不断降低价格。预计到今年底，超级本的售价将在699美元左右，而新款MacBook Air的起步价则是999美元。

    译者：牵牛絮

    Intel (INTC) unveiled its third-generation Core processors at a press event in San Francisco Monday morning. The new chips, codenamed Ivy Bridge, are now available for desktop computers and regular laptops, and are expected to be in Ultrabooks -thin laptops that compete with Apple's (AAPL) MacBook Air -- in the coming months.

    These are the first chips developed using Intel's 22-nanometer 3-D tri-gate transistor technology. What does that mean? Faster, more energy efficient PCs are in the pipeline. Who cares about PCs? Well, Intel for starters.

    Despite recent announcements, Intel is far from being a real player in the fast-growing mobile chip market. Its bread-and-butter is still the PC industry, which is why the company is hell-bent on reinvigorating demand for personal computers and sustaining Moore's Law for years to come. To that end, the Santa Clara-based chipmaker is throwing its marketing muscle into Ultrabooks, the new category of thin, power-efficient laptops. Research firm IDC estimates that anywhere from 30 million to 40 million ultrabooks will be sold worldwide in 2012. And the upcoming launch of Microsoft's (MSFT) Windows 8 touch-centric operating system is expected to unleash a new breed of Intel-running, tablet-meets-laptop computers.

    Then again, competing chips designed by British company ARM Holdings will also be in Windows 8 devices, so while the new OS represents an opportunity for Intel to get some of its PC mojo back, it will also bring new competition to the table.

    One thing is clear—unlike ARM Intel is deep-pocketed and a savvy marketer, and it will continue to push the Ultrabooks category with all its might. The company has brought on musician will.i.am to help make Ultrabooks cool (he once referred to the laptops as a the new "ghetto blaster"). At Monday morning's press event Intel showed off a slickly-produced video highlighting its new Ivy Bridge chips.

    A release issued on the same day said the new processors will bring "exciting new experiences and fun to the PC." Better performance, rich media and graphics are great, but the average laptop buyer cares more about price than Moore's Law and the latest and greatest processing technology. To really attract consumers Intel will have to keep pushing price points down. By end of the year, Ultrabooks are expected to be offered for around $699, while new MacBook Airs start at $999.