SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2002
Asia, China emerge as Intel Q3 bright spots
REUTERS
HONG KONG: Despite a gloomy outlook companywide, chipmaker Intel expects to post record fourth-quarter revenues for its Asia-Pacific region, a top regional executive said on Thursday.
China has become the second-largest market behind the United States for Intel, the world's biggest maker of semiconductors.
"In terms of Asia as a whole, we have kept on growing," Christian Morales, general manager of Intel's Asia Pacific region, said over telephone.
Globally, Intel's revenue dipped by 0.7 per cent year-on-year during the third quarter.
Intel's Asia-Pacific region, which excludes Japan, accounted for 38 per cent of its $6.5 billion in third quarter revenues, up sharply from 31 per cent in the same quarter a year earlier, the firm said in its third-quarter results report on Wednesday.
The overall earnings report disappointed investors, and Intel warned of weaker-than-expected holiday season sales.
Despite the gloomy outlook, third quarter revenue for Intel's Asia-Pacific region was a record, with sales expected to grow further to an expected new record in the fourth quarter, Morales said.
He said the seasonal rise in revenues from the third to the fourth quarter in Asia is more muted than the large spike that usually comes in Europe and North America during the busy Christmas shopping season.
Much of Asia's gains among Intel's revenue share have come at the expense of mature markets like Europe and the Americas.
Morales said China, including Hong Kong, has been one of the main drivers for Intel's continued growth in the region, rising 39 per cent in the third quarter compared with a year ago.
Revenue growth in the entire Asia-Pacific region -- which includes China -- was about half that amount.
Morales added that China's ascendancy on Intel's list of biggest revenue generators has been rapid, with the country taking over the number two spot worldwide just a quarter ago.
While China has become Intel's second largest market, the chipmaker's capital investment in China has been small. Of a capital budget of about $4.7 billion for this year, only about $200 million has gone to projects in the Asia-Pacific region so far, Morales said.
He declined to comment specifically on China's prospects as a candidate for a future chip production plant.
"We keep on browsing several countries around the world so we are ready when we need to make a decision" on any new factories, he said.
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