Intel’s best-ever profits lift technology stocks
Intel reveals better-than-expected sales and profits – boosted by demand for chips – as technology shares in US and Asia rise American microchip manufacturer Intel cheered investors overnight by reporting its best-ever quarterly profits – comfortably beating Wall Street's forecasts – in a move that has pushed technology stocks higher across the world. The second-quarter figures from the world's largest microchip maker herald the start of results season in the US. Analysts had feared they would show slowing demand, not least because of the economic turbulence in Europe, and raise fears of a double-dip global recession. But Intel announced much better than expected sales and profits, boosted by strong demand for its chips from makers of both PCs and servers. For the three months to 26 June, Intel made a profit of $2.9bn (£1.9bn) – or 51 cents a share – compared with a loss in the previous year of $398m, which was distorted by a $1.06bn fine by the European commission after a long-running competition investigation. Analysts had, however, been forecasting profits of about 43 cents per share in the second quarter. Second-quarter revenues of $10.8bn were also higher than the $10.25bn forecast by Wall Street while investors were also pleased by Intel's guidance for the next three months. In the second quarter, Intel's profit margins were 67% – higher than the 64% expected by analysts – and Intel said it expects a similar result for the third quarter, with revenues of $11.2bn to $12bn, higher than the $10.9bn analysts had been forecasting. Intel CEO Paul Otellini said there are definite signs that corporate customers are renewing spending on IT. "Now that corporations have some breathing room in the economy and their budgets, you're starting to see those machines that were four or five years old get refreshed," he said in a conference call with analysts. Intel's second-quarter figures herald the start of a slew of results from American technology firms with quarterly results from Google and chip maker AMD due on Thursday, IBM on 19 July, Microsoft on 22 July and Cisco's figures next month. The news from Intel saw technology shares rising in the US and Asia overnight and pushed British chip designer Arm Holdings to the top of the FTSE 100 index leaderboard in early trading in London. Technology sector Intel Computing United States European commission Richard Wray guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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Intel's best-ever profits lift technology stocks
Intel plans to turn its tiny Atom chip into a big brand
Atom processors have become popular in netbooks, but Intel's Brian Fravel is trying to turn it into a brand that will get consumers buying Intel-based interactive TV sets, set-top boxes and lots of portable devices Technology can be challenging for brand managers, because "technology is all about change, and brand's all about consistency: there's a constant push-pull between those two things," says Brian Fravel, director of Intel's Brand Strategy & Management. In London recently, Fravel gave a presentation about the new iCore processors that are replacing the Core 2 family … and simplifying Intel's brand by taking a BMW-style approach with the iCore 3, 5 and 7. You can watch it at V3.co.uk . Instead, I asked him about his day job. Today, Intel's biggest marketing challenge is to establish the Atom brand in consumer electronics devices. And with more than 10bn internet-connected devices expected by 2015, this could also be the most important marketing move since it used Intel Inside to brand its desktop processors. There were plenty of sceptics at the time. Why would people care what make of chip was inside their computer?
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Intel plans to turn its tiny Atom chip into a big brand
Intel unveils blockbuster financial results as PC market turns
Intel's fourth quarter net profits increased by 875% even after its settlement with AMD as the PC market showed good growth in the Christmas quarter, compared with a depressed 2008 Intel has unveiled blockbuster results for the financial quarter to December 26, about a third ahead of Wall Street estimates. Net profits increased by 875% to $2.3bn on revenues that climbed 28% to $10.6 billion ( PDF ). That looks like a return to normal: Intel made profits of $2.3bn in the same quarter in 2007, before a 90% plunge to $234m in 2008. However, the latest figures include a $1.25bn litigation settlement with chip rival AMD. Without that, operating income reached $3.75bn, a 45% increase on the year's third quarter. Intel's chief financial officer Stacy Smith said in a statement: "We have seen a return of consumer demand and replenishment to normal inventory levels after the precipitous demand drop at the end of 2008 and beginning of 2009. Operationally, the fourth quarter of 2009 was one of our most profitable quarters ever." ( PDF ) Revenues for the full year dipped by 7% to $35.1bn, with net income down by 17% to $4.4bn. The full year figures include a $1.45bn fine paid to the EU. Intel's fourth-quarter results reflect a resurgence in the PC market following the economic recovery, and other factors, such as launch of Microsoft Windows 7. Research firm IDC said PC sales in the US increased by 24% to 20.7m units in the quarter, while worldwide PC sales grew by 15.2% to 85.8m units.
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Intel unveils blockbuster financial results as PC market turns
CES 2010: Intel’s Reader, a boon for the blind
Can't read things? Photograph them with an Intel Reader and it will read them back to you. It could be a boon for people with limited vision or dyslexia You probably don't own any Intel products, as distinct from products that contain Intel chips. But one of the devices that the company has designed and manufactures is the Intel Reader , which is a product of the Intel Health division. It's a fattish Atom-powered portable that converts print into large print and, if you want, reads it aloud. It's aimed at people who find reading difficult because of impaired eyesight or dyslexia, for example. The Intel Reader needs to be portable so that you can carry it around. When you run into something you can't read, you use the Reader's built in camera to photograph it -- it might be a restaurant menu, a ticket, a notice, or the instructions on a bottle of pills. It's not simply an electronic book system, though it can be used to read ebooks including (hip hip hooray) books in the Daisy (Digital Accessible Information System) format used by the RNIB.
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CES 2010: Intel's Reader, a boon for the blind
Tech Weekly at CES: Intel’s low-power chips
In our latest podcast from the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas we hear from Sean Maloney , who is tipped to be the next boss of Intel. He talks to Jack Schofield about its new chips, which use less power than previous incarnations. Bobbie Johnson is joined by Jack and Leander Kahney from Cult Of Mac to discuss the computing chip industry, plus their highlights from CES so far. Finally Scott Cawley continues his tour of CES, this time making it to (most) of the central halls - and finds out about a gadget that can charge your devices using the energy given off by wi-fi signals. Tech Weekly is back on Tuesday with a roundup of the week at CES. Don't forget to... • Comment below... • Mail us at tech@guardian.co.uk • Get our Twitter feed for programme updates • Join our Facebook group • See our pics on Flickr /Post your tech pics Bobbie Johnson Jack Schofield Scott Cawley
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Tech Weekly at CES: Intel's low-power chips
Intel unveils "all new 2010" Core chips with on-processor graphics
Intel's Core chip family is getting a performance boost with the latest version of the company's 32nm manufacturing process If you're in the market for a personal computer, you should soon be ale to get one that's more powerful and works more smoothly, especially with Microsoft Windows 7. Intel has just announced what it calls an "all new 2010" Intel Core family of processors, with the move to new 32 nanometre fabrication processes. The new features include the ability to vary the speed of operation according to the workload, so when they are idling, the chips consume less power and generate less heat. Intel compared this to the human heart, which beats faster if you exercise and slows down when you rest. The Core i5 and Core i7 ranges also have a Turbo Boost feature that enables them to run faster than their rated speed
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Intel unveils "all new 2010" Core chips with on-processor graphics
Breakfast briefing: Goodbye to print, and all that jazz
• Kicking off this week in unusual style because, well, it's an unusual Thursday. Why? Because it's the very last printed edition of Technology Guardian - more than 25 years after we first started. We take a look back at the noughties in technology and in games . And given that it's the end of our life in print, we've also got a bit of a retrospective from Vic Keegan , other editors of the section - plus tips on where to find us from now on . You, of course, don't need that advice since you're here already. • Big news in the trust busting world yesterday, which will no doubt set the tone for conversation in days to come. First Europe settled its browser case with Microsoft - and then America's FTC sued Intel for anti-competitive behaviour . The latter is perhaps most interesting because it shows a willingness to take on cases that have been shied away from in the past and brings the issue of Intel's behaviour in the GPU market into question. • And after troubled times in the PC industry , shipments were on the up in the third quarter of 2009. That's according to IDC , which said figures rose by 2.3% after three consecutive downward quarters. And netbooks have doubled as a portion of the market since this time last year, now accounting for 28% of all shipments. You can follow our links and commentary each day through Twitter ( @guardiantech , or our personal accounts ) or by watching our Delicious feed . Microsoft Intel Computing Bobbie Johnson guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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Breakfast briefing: Goodbye to print, and all that jazz
US regulators sue Intel over antitrust allegations
US regulators today launched a legal action against Intel, amid fresh accusations that the computer chip maker deliberately stifled competition. The announcement by the Federal Trade Commission, which oversees the enforcement of competition law in the US, marks the latest in a series of worldwide antitrust cases against the Californian technology company - and is the most significant action taken by the regulator since it took Microsoft to court in the 1990s. The FTC said that its decision to sue Intel comes after a long string of allegations that the company forced and coerced computer manufacturers to use its technologies instead of those made by rival companies. "Intel has engaged in a deliberate campaign to hamstring competitive threats to its monopoly," said Richard Feinstein, who heads up the FTC's bureau of competition. "It's been running roughshod over the principles of fair play and the laws protecting competition on the merits. The commission's action today seeks to remedy the damage that Intel has done to competition, innovation and, ultimately, the American consumer." Among the allegations are claims that the company offered discounts to customers like HP, Dell and IBM on the condition that they drop products from its main rival, AMD. The company is also accused of deliberately deceiving its customers and "smothering" potential competitors. Intel has responded by calling the case "misguided" and suggesting that some of the allegations had been added after earlier negotiations to settle the case out of court had reached an impasse. "The FTC's case is misguided," it said in a statement. "It is based largely on claims that the FTC added at the last minute and has not investigated. In addition, it is explicitly not based on existing law but is instead intended to make new rules for regulating business conduct
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US regulators sue Intel over antitrust allegations
Intel will pay AMD $1.25 billion to settle all their legal disputes
AMD has been competing with Intel as a chip supplier to the PC and server markets, and by taking legal action against the company. Now an out-of-court settlement will lead to what AMD says is "a new era" -- but consumers can expect to pay In a surprise move, Intel has agreed to pay AMD $1.25 billion and to abide by an agreed set of rules for its business conduct in return for settling their long-running legal complaints. AMD will drop "all pending litigation" including cases the US and Japan, and "withdraw all of its regulatory complaints worldwide" -- though this won't stop any government cases. The two chipmakers also renewed their patent cross-licensing technology agreement for five years
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Intel will pay AMD $1.25 billion to settle all their legal disputes
Intel settles dispute with rival for £756m
Computer chip-maker agrees to pay rival AMD $1.25bn in deal that ends years of legal warfare over patents and anti-competitive behaviour The two American technology firms that together manufacture nearly all of the microchips in the world's computers have settled years of legal wrangling. This comes after Intel agreed to pay $1.25bn (£756m) to its smaller rival Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and to change the way it did business. The deal came as Intel faced intense scrutiny from regulators on both sides of the Atlantic over its dominant position in the global chip market. This month, New York state's attorney general, Andrew Cuomo, sued the company for allegedly using bullying, bribery and coercion to protect its dominant position in the market. In May, the European commission imposed a €1.03bn (£922m) fine on the company, the biggest punishment ever issued by Brussels, for anti-competitive behaviour. Intel has also found itself in regulatory trouble in Japan and Korea. Intel and AMD have been locked in patent disputes for years. In 2005, AMD sued Intel, alleging that the company had used its position to shut out products made by rival firms
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Intel settles dispute with rival for £756m