Intel Raises Revenue Forecast as PC Market Improves

The PC market is showing signs of recovery, with Intel increasing its revenue guidance based on improved chip shipments.

Intel now says it expected third-quarter revenue to be $15.6 billion, plus or minus $300 million, compared with its prior forecast of $14.9 billion, plus or minus $500 million.

Sales in the company’s PC business declined 3 percent to $7.3 billion (roughly Rs. 48,811 crores) in the latest quarter.

It’s also “seeing some signs of improving PC demand”, the company said in a statement on Friday.

That implies the highest-ever quarterly revenue for Intel.

Intel also has started shipping Pentium and Celeron chips, both aimed at low-priced laptops, based on the same architecture and code-named Apollo Lake. Kelt Reeves, its president, said sales in the quarter ended in August rose 49% – the strongest quarterly gain since the company was founded in 1992.

The world’s largest maker of semiconductors has been suffering from a global slide in demand for PCs as people prefer their tablets or mobile phones and businesses do more in the cloud. At the same time, analysts have said that OEMs had done little in terms of designs and features to entice users to buy new systems.

PC shipments declined by 4.5 percent during that period, according to IDC. The company has largely failed to place its chips in many smartphones, but so-called teardown reports on Friday from research firms that disassemble new devices showed that Intel technology has been included in some new Apple iPhone 7s.

Shares of Intel Corp. rose 82 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $37.38 in afternoon trading Friday.