Recent business section (and sometimes front new section) headlines for the past several weeks have made it clear the global economy isn’t healthy. The latest sales forecast from Intel Corp. signals how that is affecting the IT industry.
As these two stories report, Intel has sliced about US$1 billion from the anticipated US$14 billion it thought it would pull in this quarter. SiliconValley.com noted that both Hewlett-Packard Co. and Dell Corp. have lowered their earnings outlooks, while ComputerWorld U.S. pointed out that a slowdown for the semiconductor industry had been predicted, but not for processors.
(A third-generation Intel i7 CPU)
This may, of course, be a slowdown because organizations and consumers are holding back buying PCs until Windows 8 computers are released Oct. 26. Why buy a new Windows 7 laptop or desktop when a new operating system is around the corner. I’m one of those who’ve been holding off for that very reason.
Some evidence to back up that interpretation comes from one analyst who notes that demand for server processors is still steady.
Still, the Intel move may be a sign of a larger trend in the economy which is rippling through every sector, including IT.
Intel will release its third quarter figures on Oct. 16