Intel reports its first US$11bn-plus quarter

13 Oct 2010

Chip giant Intel last night reported Q3 revenues of US$11.1bn – up 18pc on last year. CEO Paul Otellini said the performance was driven by solid demand in corporate and emerging markets.

The company reported operating income of US$4.1bn, net income of US$3.0bn and earnings per share of 52 cents.

“Intel’s third-quarter results set all-time records for revenue and operating income,” said Paul Otellini, Intel president and CEO.

“These results were driven by solid demand from corporate customers, sales of our leadership products and continued growth in emerging markets.

Intel employs 4,000 people in Ireland and boasts three Irish vice-presidents in its senior ranks.

Google TV and smartphones

“Looking forward, we continue to see healthy worldwide demand for computing products of all types and are particularly excited about our next-generation processor, codenamed Sandy Bridge, and the many new designs around our Intel Atom processors in everything from the new Google TV products to a wide array of tablets based on Windows, Android and MeeGo operating systems,” Otellini said.

Intel’s PC Client Group revenue was up 3pc, with record mobile microprocessor revenue. Data Center Group revenue was up 3pc with record server microprocessor revenue.

However, Intel Atom microprocessor and chipset revenues of US$396m were down 4pc.

The average selling price (ASP) for microprocessors was approximately flat sequentially and up significantly year-over-year.

Gross margin was 66pc, consistent with the company’s revised expectation of 65 to 67pc.

R&D plus mergers and acquisitions spending was US$3.2bn and the net gain from equity investments and interest was US$115m, lower than the company’s revised expectation of US$175m.

Looking ahead to the fourth quarter, Intel predicts revenue in the region of US$11.4bn, plus or minus US$400m. It expects to spend US$3.2bn on R&D and mergers and acquisitions and to gain US$20m from equity investments. Full-year capital spending is expected to be in the region of US$5.2bn.

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com