Here is another example of why INTC must provide more guidance throughout the quarter. Their business model is much too complex and only they can see how all the pieces are behaving when netted together. Mix issues like the one outlined below can have significant impacts on profitability.
Friday December 1, 9:36 pm Eastern Time
IDC says U.S. notebook sales offset desktop decline
By Peter Henderson
SAN FRANCISCO, Dec 1 (Reuters) - U.S. businesses have stepped up their purchases of notebook computers in the fourth quarter, unexpectedly offsetting much of the widely flagged slowdown in desktop sales to consumers, revised forecasts by International Data Corp. showed on Friday.
As a result IDC now projects overall computer sales growth of 15.8 percent in the fourth quarter, down from an earlier quarterly forecast of 17.1 percent growth in year-on-year terms, an analyst said.
For the full calendar year, IDC, whose forecasts are widely watched as a benchmark for the computer industry, sees sales growth of 12.1 percent in annual terms, down from an earlier estimate of 12.2 percent.
A warning on Wednesday of slower than expected fourth- quarter sales by Gateway, Inc.(NYSE:GTW - news), the No. 2 U.S. direct seller of personal computers, fanned concerns that the whole sector was headed into a slowdown.
But IDC senior analyst David Daoud said new research showed a quiet upturn in purchases of high-performance portable computers by medium-sized and larger businesses, especially in comparison with last year when Y2K concerns depressed corporate buying.
``It looks like the loss of growth in the desktop is compensated by the strong growth in other factors,'' Daoud said, adding that he expected portable sales to business to accelerate until the end of 2001.
He also said increasing confidence in the Windows 2000 operating system would lead to stronger corporate desktop sales by the middle of next year, by which time consumer sentiment could also be turning more positive.
``We can confirm that in the desktop market there is an issue of consumer confidence right now,'' he said of the weaker than expected desktop sales. "We see that the traditional fourth quarter uptick is not really happening this time.
``We think it (consumer confidence) will recover around the second quarter'' of next year |
