Yesterday, Intel reduced the prices of its solid state disk lineup in response to changing times in the flash memory industry. Currently, the mainstream 80GB X25-M model for notebook PCs has been reduced by 34 percent, bringing it to a more affordable $390. But is this really an affordable price point compared to the continued success of low-cost rotating magnetic hard drives?

According to David Flynn, chief technical officer of solid-state drive company Fusion-io, the fact that "CEs have taken such a nose dive has left a surplus of flash in the market, driving down prices."

In September, Intel introduced its 2.5-inch 80GB X-25M mainstream model for $595 in quantities of 1,000 and its 160GB model in December for $945 in quantities of 1,000. Just recently, the 80GB model dropped to $399, while the 160GB dropped to $800, roughly a 15 percent difference in just two months.

Additionally, the company has revealed the price of its 64GB X25-E, or "Extreme Edition" solid state disk. The model will be priced at $795 in lots of 1,000 units, roughly a 52 percent difference over the 32GB X25-E announced in October. 

However, the 64GB model can already be purchased on Buy.com for a cool $815.92, while the 32GB model can be had for $429.49, both with free shipping if that helps. On another note, both of these drives are based on 50nm SLC ONFI 1.0 NAND flash with 10 parallel channel architecture.