John,
From the article,
<< Drew Peck, an analyst with Cowen & Co., said he did not believe Intel will be the profit and growth machine it once was. "For Intel to sustain this quarter's level of growth and profit requires a strong step up in PC demand," he said. >>
I think that analyst comments like this tend to underestimate the demand that is occurring from the millions of 486 and earlier era pc owners who can no longer resist the low prices for even the currently available highest end systems. When this segment purchased pc's, system prices were comparable to the today's high-end of the market. Many of this segment, and I include myself in that category, push current system usage to the max before reaching a need-to-upgrade point. When they finally buy, they tend to repeat their previous pattern and buy high-end systems, wanting to use the system as long as possible without needing to upgrade again.
My own personal example is a case in point.
In my business, I have been using a 486-66 with a 2.1 MB HD since 1993 - the monitor was 13 in. Laser printer a NEC Silentwriter 95.
This combination has served me extremely well over that period. It has allowed me to compete head to head even against the biggest companies in my business – companies with billions in sales. Computerization back in 1988 freed me from the constraint of information overload, which is where I was at that time. Being able to manipulate information better than my competitors was and still is an important factor in my ability to survive in the world of business.
For what I paid in 1993, I just upgraded to a 450 PII with a 14.3 MB HD and a 19-in. monitor. The NEC still works fine – no need to replace it.
Last I remember reading, there were about 100 million more like me out there.
JMHO, FWIW.
Barry
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