Intel Corp is well on its way to its third consecutive year of double-digit growth this year as it reaps benefits from investments in factory capacity, mobile technology and emerging markets, the chipmaker's president said on Thursday.
Paul Otellini, who replaces Craig Barrett as chief executive in less than two weeks, said the company continues to outpace rivals because it is willing to invest even in lean times. As a result, Intel has the technology and capacity in place when demand grows.
"Growth doesn't just happen. You make it happen," he told Wall Street analysts during a conference in New York City. "You make investments and then you capitalize on them."
The company did not update its financial forecasts, though officials stressed that the business remains healthy.
Last month, Intel said it expected second-quarter sales to be between US$8.6 billion and US$9.2 billion. For the year, analysts expect the world's largest chipmaker to earn US$1.56 per share on sales of US$37.9 billion, according to Thomson Financial.
Santa Clara-based Intel reported US$34.21 billion in sales last year, a 13.5 percent increase over the US$30.14 billion it posted in 2003. Sales grew 12.5 percent between 2002 and 2003.
In January, Intel announced a reorganization that created five business divisions that focus on specific markets, including businesses, homes, mobility and health care. All still include Intel's core chip architectures but will create enhancements for specific platforms.
Otellini pointed to Intel's Centrino brand as the first success in the shift. Introduced in 2003, it combines processor, chipset and wireless radio chips that were built to maximize performance and minimize power requirements.
"We've more than doubled the rate of growth of the marketplace by introducing this product and the features associated with it," he said.
Today, about 31 percent of all chips leaving Intel's factories will end up in mobile computers, compared with about 17 percent in 1999, he said. Centrino also helped stabilize falling notebook prices and grew Intel's market share in the segment.
"Centrino was a classic example of us executing flawlessly on the platforms, and this is the template for what we want to do in the other areas," Otellini said.
It's not clear when the next Centrino-like technology will emerge, but Barrett said Intel is planning a major new branding campaign later this year. He provided no other details.
Barrett, who has been CEO since 1998, will leave that position on May 18 to become chairman, replacing Andy Grove.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique