Intel: Pentium 4 Will Pass Pentium III In Early 2002
(11/01/00, 8:41 p.m. ET) By Ken Schachter, TechWeb Finance
Sales of Intel's Pentium 4 microprocessor will ramp up faster previously forecast, with the new chip overtaking the mainstream Pentium III in early 2002, company officials said in a webcast Wednesday.
Earlier predictions had put the crossover point for the Pentium 4, which is scheduled to debut on Nov. 20, in late 2002.
CEO Craig Barrett said the revenue growth target for its core business Intel Architecture unit, which accounts for about 80 percent of revenues, is about 10 percent per year.
The remainder of the company, Santa Clara, Calif., is devoted to emerging networking and communications businesses, forecast to grow at a 50 percent rate.
Company-wide, Barrett said, revenue is forecast to grow in the "high teens."
Earlier this week, rumors had rumbled through financial markets suggesting that Intel (stock: INTC) would lower guidance for the fourth quarter, but company officials gave no indication of backing off their forecasts.
The company's strained relationship with memory designer Rambus Inc. (stock: RMBS) also was apparent as officials blamed that company's technology for several production glitches.
"One of the problem areas this year was RDRAM," said Paul Otellini, general manager of the Intel Architecture group. "Some of the stumbles we had over the year had to do with embracing this technology."
An internal Intel document cited in a report by Electronics Buyers' News, a CMP Media Inc. publication, this week said that Intel planned to pare back its use of Rambus technology.
CFO Andy Bryant noted that Intel's spending was running at about 26 percent of revenue, substantially higher than the 20 percent rate four years ago.
He said that the company was investing heavily in its emerging businesses and it would try to maintain the current level.
Intel has mounted an aggressive push into the wireless business.
Barrett said wireless represents a multi-billion-dollar business for Intel and that the company ultimately hopes to combine its Xscale processor, cellular chipsets, and flash memory into one chip. |
