According to Digitimes, Intel has told its notebook partners that it will phase out Celeron processors in 2011. The venerable Celerons will be replaced by dual-core Atom processors as well as some Pentium SKUs.

We’re already seen a couple of dual-core Atoms in unannounced netbooks, the CPUs are slated to go on sale soon, during this quarter. The 1.5GHz Atom N550 should be the first mobile dual-core Atom to appear. However, at $86 it costs the same as a P4500, which is a proper dual-core processor, so it doesn’t sound like a very good deal.

Intel has relied on several Celeron processors in the entry level market, ranging from the single core Celeron 900 to the dual-core P4500. It also offers two Celeron ULV parts for thin-and-light notebooks. Intel will introduce several faster Celeron SKUs by September, but they will obviously have a limited lifespan.

More here.