Tony, >>>Yes, September 10. From the archives of SI Intel. This one is a whole month earlier, to the day, WRT the end of the quarter, isn't it. Why did you ask?<<<
Could be interesting. Intel managment is making unusually (unusual for them) bullish statements as in:
>>>In his speech to thousands of information technology professionals, Otellini said Xeon chip sales were growing 1.5 times faster than those of non-Intel architecture chips.
''The foundation of the new computing industry is quite clearly moving to Intel,'' Otellini said.<<<
>>>''Japan is kind of picking up,'' Otellini said. ''We're getting some sequential growth again, which feels good.''<<<
>>>''Unit shipments to China and India are holding at their current growth level,'' Otellini said.<<<
This is not an interpretation by an analyst - this is straight from Intel management.
dailynews.yahoo.com
Intel Sees Stronger-Than-Expected Fourth Quarter
By Duncan Martell
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Intel Corp. (Nasdaq:INTC - news) said Tuesday strong demand would drive its fourth-quarter revenue higher than expected -- the second quarter in a row the world's largest computer chipmaker has said results will beat Wall Street expectations.
In putting together two better-than-expected quarters, Intel is showing that even with 80 percent of the market for the brains of PCs, it can still produce higher revenues and earnings. The company said
revenue will be 8 percent to 10 percent higher than the third quarter's $6.7 billion.
Gross margin, or percentage of revenue minus product costs, will surge a whopping two percentage points above the 53 percent in the prior quarter.
The company is having great success, analysts said, with its Celeron chip designed for low-cost PCs as well as with its Xeon chip, designed for heavy-duty computing.
''I'm pretty impressed,'' said Richard Slinn, a money manager at San Francisco-based Levensohn Capital Management. ''This is a company with a lot of operating leverage when times are good.''
And times seem to be much better than the first half of the year when Intel and personal computer makers were hurt by a glut of PCs on dealers' shelves.
The industry is gearing up for the holiday shopping season -- its strongest period of the year -- and companies are snapping up new models that just came out in August. Moreover, contrary to popular
opinion, there is good growth in higher-end PCs that have faster chips, more memory and better performance.
''Demand for PCs above the $1,000 level is pretty strong,'' Slinn said. ''Customers aren't just buying the cheapest of the cheap.''
Intel's news follows bullish comments made by Paul Otellini, head of Intel's business architecture group, during a speech at Oracle Corp. (Nasdaq:ORCL - news)'s OpenWorld conference in San Francisco.
He said there was strong demand for the Celeron chip and that Intel expected to double unit shipments of the Celeron chip in the fourth quarter from the third.
That would be up from the three million to four million Celeron chips Intel shipped in the third quarter, estimated Bill Milton, an analyst at Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.
Otellini's speech also underscored Intel's aggressive push to sell more of its top-of-the-line Xeon chips into the high-end computing market.
Those processors, which now run as fast as 450 megahertz and are expected to reach speeds of more than 600 megahertz by the second half of next year, are the brains of powerful server computers that manage and process data on corporate networks.
''Xeon shows Intel's move into the high end,'' Milton said. ''Xeon is quite competitive'' with other chips that run server computers using the Unix operating system, which powers the most sophisticated machines.
In his speech to thousands of information technology professionals, Otellini said Xeon chip sales were growing 1.5 times faster than those of non-Intel architecture chips.
''The foundation of the new computing industry is quite clearly moving to Intel,'' Otellini said.
In an interview after his speech, Otellini said the Santa Clara, Calif.-based chipmaker was no longer having trouble meeting demand for Xeon, as it was in the third quarter.
''We're no longer supply-constrained,'' Otellini told Reuters. ''How many thousands would you like
to buy?''
Intel reported stronger-than-expected earnings for the third quarter, citing growth in nearly all its product lines and strong seasonal demand for PCs.
The same appears to be happening this quarter.
''Japan is kind of picking up,'' Otellini said. ''We're getting some sequential growth again, which feels good.''
Japan is mired in its first recession in years, and PC growth there has slowed precipitously. Asia, including Japan, accounts for about 25 percent of the world's PC sales.
''Unit shipments to China and India are holding at their current growth level,'' Otellini said.
While Japan, Thailand and Malaysia have seen demand wane, sales in China and India have remained the fastest-growing for Intel in the Asia region.
''All segments of the PC market are doing pretty well right now,'' Milton said.
In after-hours trading, Intel stock was up $1.81 after gaining $1.56 to close at $97.56 on the Nasdaq during regular hours. Intel disclosed the news after the close of trading. |
