Barry and all,
have no position in Intel now but have lots of questions, trying to figure out whether to go long, short or just forget INTC for now.
On the positive side, company claims that sequential growth to resume 2nd half. This may not be anything to cheer about, especially if they end up flat or down next quarter, after the down current qtr. New products coming include Celeron. Based on "expert" review, this is an inferior product with no monopolistic power. In fact, it is not even broadly supported by the big boxmakers as was the case for their previous products. A lot of weight is now put on PII products. What if the high end market continues to give ground to the sub$1000, sub$800 or lower PCs? W98 may give everyone a boost but what if DOJ throws a monkey wrench/injunction into what is already considered lesser of a product introduction as W95?
In the past, everytime AMD, Cyrix or whoever appear to be finally catching up, Intel always managed to put it in gear and blew away the competitors. This time may really be different. Once the likes of AMD manages to get their foot in the door, the famous "50% plus or minus a few points" margin may be hard to maintain. It concerns me that Intel's press release did not talk about the competitors at all. Are they ignoring them intentionally or do they have some plan up their sleeves?
Would like to hear from both bulls and bears.
Ramsey |
