Despite the twists and turns and perpetual disruptions of the tech industry, Intel still remains a bellweather. So the chip giant provided a bit of relief to the wobbly tech sector when it said demand for its core computer and server chips remained strong. Profits fell 12% year-over-year, though, due to the struggling and commoditized business of NAND flash memory chips–silicon used in everything from music players and digital cameras to a growing number of laptop hard drives.
The highlights:
* First-quarter sales totaled $9.7 billion, an improvement of 9% over the year-ago quarter. Intel said revenue for server chips set a single-quarter record, while the PC chip business held its own.
* The company said it expects its second-quarter revenue to total between $9 billion and $9.6 billion, suggesting that analysts may need to tweak their forecasts upward.
* Intel is more global than previousy realized. During a conference call with analysts, Chief Executive Officer Paul Otellini said “75% of [Intel’s] revenue coming from outside the U.S. right now.”
See a good recap of their earnings report from my BusinessWeek colleague Arik Hesseldahl.
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