Hopes for PC market recovery as Intel Q4 profits surge

There were hopes that the personal computer market is staging a recovery after chipmaker Intel said net income in the three months to 26 December was £1.4 billion - surging ahead of the £143 million reported a year earlier.

Furthermore, the company, which is based in Santa Clara, California, exceeded analysts’ expectations after sales soared 29% to £6.5 billion, against forecasts of £6.2 billion.

Intel is kicking off the reporting season for the technology market so will be viewed as the barometer for the PC market and for technology spending.

The industry has been hit hard by the economic global downturn but this year, it is expected to benefit from increased corporate spending.

On a conference call with analysts, Intel’s chief executive, Paul Otellini, said: “What we are benefiting from in the second half of the year, and what we’ll continue to benefit from throughout this year, is the extraordinary return on investment that is incurred by deploying new server technologies.”

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