14 DAY TRIAL // It appears that Intel is very optimistic about its business, especially when it comes down to the notebook market, one that is apparently expected to grow at a faster pace than initially believed, mostly thanks to the latest netbooks that have been released or announced by various manufacturers. Since Intel is currently the only provider of netbook-capable processors, the company has every reason to believe that its business will flourish considerably in the near future.
After presenting the Q2 revenues, which indicated that the Santa-Clara-based chip manufacturer had quite a lucrative period, Intel's CEO Paul Otellini declared that order patterns played out as expected in the same timeframe. He also added that the company would see "continued healthy demand" in the third quarter, which means that the future is quite bright and promising, despite global economic issues. Even more, the notebook market seems to be the very first reason why Intel's business is doing so well.
This can be explained by the fact that notebook sales now comprise more than half of the market, although they entail lower average selling prices. According to Intel, the prices for these products will continue to drop, which can only mean an increased demand for the company. "What we're seeing is a fundamental shift to notebooks," said Otellini, who also added that the crossover transition was taking place six months sooner than previously anticipated.
The relatively sudden growth of the notebook market is also due to the emerging netbook segment. Here too Intel expects to ship more Atom processors in the second half of the year, and chances are this might just happen, especially if we're to consider that in most parts of Europe stocks of Atom-based netbooks are running out. This concerns mostly Acer, MSI, Medion Akoya and Gigabyte, which currently don't offer a Celeron-based version of their latest netbooks. ASUS, for instance, is well in place with its Celeron Eee PC and doesn't seem to mind the Atom shortage too much.