Intel to Step into Mobile Apps
Posted on September 23, 2009 |
On Sept. 23, chipmaker Intel announced it will launch, in 2010, its own store peddling applications for mobile devices. The app store is expected to cater to devices ranging from netbooks to cars to handsets, and to look similar to the popular Apple App Store.
Clearly, Intel as a company is morphing. Once, it used to make chips that went into computers and other devices. More recently, with the acquisition of WindRiver, Intel has been moving to offer software and services, some of which it may offer to consumers directly. Essentially, Intel is removing the middlemen -- computer makers -- to interact with end users directly.
Can Intel swing it? I don't see why not. Thanks to its famed "Intel Inside" campaign, Intel is a household name. It's already a consumer brand, and Intel is smart to capitalize on that.
Its PC maker partners will be able to promote the resulting apps in their own-branded stores. It looks like Acer, Asus and Dell have already signed up to participate.
One interesting bit: It looks like Intel is courting Windows developers. According to the announcement, "developers will be able to write applications once and have them run on Windows and Moblin -- [that's Intel's software on which apps for the app store will be based] -- devices."
Intel Begins Vetting Execs For CEO Role
Posted on September 14, 2009 |
Chipmaker Intel is looking for a few good CEO candidates. The company on Sept. 14 announced a management shakeup that kicks off a three-way race to succeed current CEO Paul Otellini.
Though the 58-year-old executive doesn't face mandatory retirement for at least seven years, Intel begins grooming replacements well in advance. The board in the past also has shifted the retirement age for its chief executive. The company in a statement said the reorganization will give Otellini more time to focus on corporate strategy, moving him away from day-to-day governance of the world's largest chipmaker.
The move also will streamline the executive reporting structure and begin grooming the next generation of executives for bigger roles. On a structural level, the Santa Clara (Calif.) company will consolidate chip design and marketing operations into a new unit called Intel Architecture Group. The remaining Technology and Manufacturing Group will be headed by former chief financial officer Andy Bryant.
Executive Vice President Sean Maloney will head up business and operations of the core Architecture group. Dadi Perlmutter, another executive vice president, will head up product development. Six executives will report to them.
The shakeup coincides with the surprise departure of Pat Gelsinger, who co-headed the company's lucrative enterprise computing group. Gelsinger, also a former chief technology officer, had been considered in the running to replace Otellini. But he was named Sept. 14 by EMC Corp. as president and chief operating officer of EMC information infrastructure products.
Company insiders have said Maloney is the leading candidate to replace Otellini. He previously headed sales and marketing, but has held a number of operational roles typical of someone being groomed for the top job.
Bryant has said previously in interviews with BusinessWeek that he wasn't interested in the CEO's job, but he, too, has wide operational experience.
Still, there may be an opening for Perlmutter and others. Otellini has been both president and CEO since becoming Intel's fifth chief executive in 2005. Intel watchers will look to the time when he relinquishes the president's title to another executive. Such a move often leads to the departure of other potential CEO candidates and sets the person who get the job up for eventual succession.
There's also a chance that Intel's board will for the first time hire outside the company to replace Otellini. The chipmaker has been attempting to leverage its pc roots into new markets such as handhelds, devices with relatively cheap chips embedded in them and other consumer electronics. They increasingly are becoming more pc-like, but the going has been slow for Intel. It faces stiff competition from many entrenched players, including Qualcomm, Texas Instruments and Broadcom.
Intel also announced the departure of general counsel Bruce Sewell. And Tom Kilroy, a senior vice president, will take over sales and marketing from Maloney.
Intel Boosts Outlook on Improving Demand
Posted on August 28, 2009 |
Dell, Hewlett-Packard Co. and other customers of Intel remain cautious about end-user demand, but the chipmaker says things are finally looking up.
Santa Clara (Calif.)-based Intel on Aug. 28 said third-quarter revenues could be half a billion dollars higher than its previous mid-range forecast of $8.5 billion. The company cited stronger demand for its microprocessors and chip packages that accompany them.
To be sure, the new revenue guidance still shaves more than $1 billion off the $10.2 billion in sales Intel logged in the year-ago comparable period. But the announcement will reinforce investor views that the tech sector has reached bottom and should begin recovering through 2010.
It came a day after Dell, the No. 2 pc vendor behind HP, reported better-than-expected quarterly results. Though Dell's profits continued their slide for the fourth-consecutive quarter, CFO Brian Gladden said he was cautiously optimistic that the pc market is beginning to recover, echoing reports from HP that things have stabilized.
Intel also appears to be confirming Dell's comments on Aug. 27 that back-to-school spending on new pc products is going well. There had been some concern that consumers were continuing to buckle down in July and August, after many of the nation's largest retailers reported weak sales of clothing and other back-to-school items.
The big wild card, of course, is whether pc makers are building up inventory that could sit unsold on shelves if consumer spending suddenly weakens again. PC makers have said they do not expect corporate spending on computers and servers to rise in any significant way until next year.
