Intel Sees Continued Refresh of Enterprise and SMB PC Hardware
After a protracted decline in PC sales, Intel last week said that enterprises of all sizes are refreshing their portable and desktop computers. In its second quarter earnings report, Intel said PC shipments rose for the third consecutive quarter. While the company acknowledged that the end of life of Windows XP has helped fuel the revival, the company appears optimistic the trend will continue.
Though company officials didn't give specific guidance for future quarters, the company is optimistic that the pending delivery of new systems based on its new 14mm Broadwell processor will propel demand in the following quarters. The new smaller CPU is expected to offer systems that are lighter and offer better battery life.
Intel said its PC group's revenues of $8.7 billion represented a 6 percent increase over the same period last year and a percent jump over the prior quarter. The second quarter Intel reported last week covers the period when Microsoft officially stopped releasing regular patches for its Windows XP operating system.
"The installed base of PCs that are at least four years old is now roughly 600 million units and we are seeing clear signs of a refresh in the enterprise in small and medium businesses," said Intel CEO Brian Krzanich, during the company's earnings call. "While there are some signs of renewed consumer interest and activity, the consumer segment remains challenging, primarily in the emerging markets."
Krzanich was particularly optimistic about the arrival of newest ultramobile systems that will arrive from the 14nm Llama Mountain reference design, which he said will result in fanless, detachable two—in-one systems that are 7.2 mm and weigh 24 ounces. OEMs demonstrated some of these new systems at the recent Computex show in Taipei. Microsoft showcased many new Windows PCs in the pipeline at last week's Worldwide Partner Conference in Washington, D.C.
Posted by Jeffrey Schwartz on 07/21/2014 at 1:41 PM