Intel Says PC Sales Improving Apr 15, 2009

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Intel Corp. reported net income of US$647 million less than half what the company earned in the same period last year, yet it said its PC sales were improving. Intel's sales of $7.1 billion were down 26% from last year, but about $100 million higher than estimates.

"We believe PC sales bottomed out during the first quarter and that the industry is returning to normal seasonal patterns," Intel's CEO, Paul Otellini, said in a statement.

Yet Intel said it was too hard to predict its financial results for the second quarter. The company would only offer that revenue will likely be flat from the first quarter, and gross profit margin will be in the "mid-40s" as a percentage of revenue. Intel's gross margin in the first quarter was 45.6%. That was down from 53.1% in the fourth quarter.

In the first quarter, Intel's laptop-chip division had sales of $2.9 billion, down from $3.7 billion last year. The group that makes processors for desktop PCs and servers saw its sales fall to $4 billion from $5.4 billion.

Intel says Atom chip sales were $219 million, down 27% from the fourth quarter, a decline the company attributed to netbook makers working through existing inventory.

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