Intel doubles its profits

By Alun Williams

Posted on 15 Jan 2003 at 11:53

Growth in market share has boosted Intel's fourth quarter financial results yet is still cautious about the future.

The Santa Clara-based company reported net income of exactly $1bn, a 53 per cent increase on the previous quarter and a 108 per cent rise year-on-year. Earnings per share were $0.16, up 129 per cent over the same period in 2001.

Full year results for 2002 show net income as $3.1bn, up a whole 141 per cent from 2001. Its sales revenue for the year is $26.8 billion (up one per cent from 2001, up 1 percent from $26.5 billion in 2001).

Intel CEO Craig R. Barrett attributed the strong results to Intel increasing its market share in a variety of areas: microprocessors, chipsets, graphics, motherboards, flash and PDA microprocessors.

'In 2003,' Barrett says, 'we will continue to deploy advanced technology, further our silicon leadership, deliver industry-leading products, and improve our competitiveness and cost structure so we can continue to outperform now and when the economic picture improves.'

Despite the bigger profits Intel is to cut back capital expenditure by up to $1.2b. It is concentrating on its 300-mm wafer production, which - the company says - is providing greater capital efficiency and lower manufacturing costs. R&D spending for 2003, however, will remain at the same level as for 2002, at around approximately $4bn.

Despite the cutbacks in capital spending, Intel has also just announced its first processor production line in China, where Pentium 4 processors will be built and tested later this year.