iSuppli issues fast facts on Intel’s Q1 earnings

EL SEGUNDO, USA: To support press coverage of Intel Corp.’s first-quarter results, iSuppli Corp. is issuing the following fast facts:

* Global revenue from shipments of general-purpose microprocessors, including the X86 PC-oriented chips sold by Intel, is expected to amount to $8.8 billion in the first quarter of 2010, up 28 percent from $6.9 billion during the first quarter of 2009, according to iSuppli Corp.

However due to normal seasonal factors revenue will decline by 6.5 percent from $9.4 billion in the fourth quarter of 2009. The attached figure presents iSuppli’s quarterly forecast and estimate of microprocessor shipments in 2009 and 2010.

* Global PC shipments in the first quarter of 2010 are expected to amount to 77.8 million units in the first quarter of 2010, up 17.1 percent from 66.5 million in the first quarter of 2009. Shipments will be down by 12.4 percent from 88.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2009.

* “After a poor 2009, the global PC and microprocessor businesses are continuing to return to a state of normality in the first quarter of 2010,” said Matthew Wilkins, principal analyst, compute platforms, for iSuppli. “Microprocessor sales in the first quarter will driven by continuing strong sales growth of notebook PCs, which we expect to account for 61 percent of worldwide PC shipments in the quarter. Notebook shipments in the first quarter are forecasted to rise by 37 percent compared to the same period in 2009 as consumers continue to gravitate toward mobile computing. Meanwhile, the PC market is expected to benefit from the return of corporate spending in 2010.”

* Intel in the fourth quarter of 2009 held an 80.6 percent share of global microprocessor revenue, losing 1 percentage point of share from the fourth quarter of 2008. This total includes all types of general-purpose microprocessors. On a sequential basis, Intel gained 0.1 of a point from the 80.5 percent it held in the third quarter of 2009. iSuppli doesn’t anticipate any major changes in Intel’s market share in the first quarter.

* In the fourth quarter of 2009, chief Intel rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) accounted for 12.1 percent of worldwide microprocessor revenue, gaining 1.6 percentage points of share from the same period in 2008. AMD picked up 0.28 of a point of share over its position in the third quarter of 2009.

* Financial analysts predict Intel will achieve robust profitability in the first quarter. The performance of this bellwether semiconductor stock reflects a general trend in the overall semiconductor industry.

The global semiconductor business now is more profitable than it has been at any time in the last decade, reflecting the industry’s increasingly aggressive management of costs, capacity and competitive positioning, according to iSuppli. Overall semiconductor supplier operating profitability rose to 21.4 percent in fourth quarter of 2009, the highest level since the fourth quarter of 2000 when it reached 24.7 percent.

* Intel is expected report to strong revenue in the first quarter. The first quarter typically is the weakest period of the year for the semiconductor market. However, the first quarter of 2010 is set to generate unusually robust growth compared to the same period in 2009.

The overall global semiconductor market in the first quarter is expected to amount to $67.1 billion, up a whopping 49.9 percent from $44.8 billion in the first quarter of 2009. However, much of the year-over-year strength of the semiconductor market in the first quarter of 2010 is due to catastrophic economic conditions early in 2009.

Source: iSuppli, USA