Taiwan-based DRAM makers expect the upcoming price cuts for Intel 945 chipsets will speed the market’s migration to DDR2-667, while motherboard makers may be hoping the drop in price will provide a needed jolt to the less than satisfactory Intel dual-core CPU system sales, according to Taiwan motherboard and DRAM makers.

Intel is unlikely to reach its dual-core CPU shipment goals in the second and third quarters due to weak demand, according to sources with motherboard makers.

With weak demand for Pentium D processors, Intel will be unable to see the dual-core segment account for 5% of its LGA775 socket processor shipments in the second quarter, the sources said. Intel had also expected dual-core Pentium D CPUs to account for 10% of its LGA775 socket processor shipments in the third quarter, and 15% in the fourth quarter, but the sources stated Pentium D shipments will fall far short of Intel’s goal in the third quarter.

Anand Chandrasekher, vice president and general manager of Intel Mobile Platforms Group, said earlier this month during Computex Taipei that the company was confident it would ship more than 100,000 dual-core processors in the third quarter and shipments would total one million units by the end of the year.

Weak demand for Intel’s dual-core platform would not only put a dent in Intel’s plans, but may also affect Taiwan DRAM makers, which had expected the adoption of the Intel 945 platform to give a boost to DDR2 demand, market sources stated.

DRAM-module houses have been conservative about DDR2, as systems based on DDR2-533 provide minimal performance improvements over DDR-based systems, DRAM makers commented. However, DDR2-667 is expected to be the first DDR2 iteration to provide significant improvements in performance over DDR, and its adoption is expected to boost DDR2 demand, the makers indicated.

Although most chipset vendors currently offer solutions supporting DDR2-667, Intel dominates the PC market and only supports DDR2-667 with its dual-core CPU chipsets. Although Intel 945 chipsets are priced US$10 more than DDR2-533-supporting 915 chipsets per unit, the memory makers had hoped that the July 3 price cuts would stimulate demand.

In addition, DRAM makers reportedly plan to accelerate the migration to DDR2 by shipping DDR2-667 chip inventory to the spot market in the third quarter in order to narrow the price gap between DDR and DDR2.