Intel outlook points PC sales surge

The Santa Clara, California-based technology bellwether said net profit soared nearly nine-fold — by 875 percent — to 2.3 billion dollars in the three months which ended on December 26. Fourth-quarter revenue rose by 28 percent to 10.6 billion dollars, better than the 10.2 billion dollars expected by Wall Street analysts.

Intel’s strong earnings came despite the payment of 1.25 billion dollars in the quarter to Advanced Micro Devices to settle a long-standing legal dispute between the rival chipmakers. Intel also said it expects revenue of between 9.3 billion dollars and 10.1 billion dollars this quarter, better than the 9.35 billion dollars forecast by analysts.

As the world’s top chipmaker Intel’s fortunes are closely linked to those of the computer market. Industry tracker IDC reported Wednesday that nearly 20.7 million computers were shipped in the United States in the fourth quarter, a record and heralding an economic revival.

Abundant deals on low-priced netbooks and demand that built up during the economic crisis boosted shipments of computers 24 percent in the final quarter of 2009 compared with a year ago, IDC said.

“Our ability to weather this business cycle demonstrates that microprocessors are indispensable in our modern world,” Intel president and chief executive Paul Otellini said in a statement.

“Looking forward, we plan to deliver the benefits of computing to an expanding set of products, markets and customers,” Otellini said. Shares in the US semiconductor giant shot up 2.10 percent to 21.90 dollars in electronic after-hours trading in New York.

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