Intel, the largest chipmaker and a bellwether stock of the technology industry, reported on Tuesday that its profit rose 16 percent because of healthy growth in the computer industry and strong demand for notebook computers.
The report caps a period of good financial news for the chip industry, coming just a week after a rival chipmaker, Advanced Micro Devices, defied Wall Street's pessimistic predictions and posted a profit of US$0.03 a share, its first profitable quarter in three quarters. AMD said last week that it also saw strong sales of microprocessors.
"Demand is strong right now. Worldwide, business is good," said Andy Bryant, Intel's chief financial officer.
Bryant said customers were continuing to show a preference for lightweight notebooks, which have a higher average selling price than traditional desktop PCs.
Intel's profit was US$2.04 billion, or US$0.33 a share, in the second quarter, compared with US$1.76 billion, or US$0.27 a share, in the period a year ago. Revenue rose 15 percent, to US$9.23 billion, the middle of the US$9.1 billion to US$9.3 billion range that Intel projected in June.
Analysts were expecting Intel to earn US$0.32 a share on sales of US$9.22 billion, according to Thompson Financial. Intel's gross profit margin was 56.4 percent in the second quarter, while analysts were hoping for 57 percent.
Looking ahead, Intel forecast third-quarter revenue in a range of US$9.6 billion to US$10.2 billion, with a gross profit margin for the quarter of about 60 percent, plus or minus a couple of percentage points.
Intel executives also said the company set revenue records in China and in Latin America.
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
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
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
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