Not quite. Chip and PIN adds an additional layer of security (PIN verification upon payment, verified against a secure chip) that is much, much more difficult to duplicate because the internals aren't known. Magnetic stripes are open to everyone.

Actually, the internals are known, it would be security through obscurity otherwise (cough GSM cough)

The mag stripe is as safe as giving everybody your CC number (with CVV code)

Which chip-and-pin two things happen:

- the chip won't work without the pin number being input

- only one transaction is authorized at a time

- the chip is not duplicable (the information needed to duplicate it can't be read from the card)

It's not just the cost of the new cards -- all the payment terminals would have to be upgraded as well. AFAIK, unless you're in a major international city (NYC, Washington DC, SF) the terminals in the stores & restaurants don't know what to do with a chip-only card.