Intel CFO: Anecdotal Evidence Of Companies Starting To Spend
"Our sales guys are picking up more interest at corporations," Smith told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview Thursday. Conversations with customers, he said, are often focusing on the value proposition inherent in upgrading to new computers and servers.
Smith's comments came during a wide-ranging interview with the chip industry veteran, who also discussed the economy, the Galleon Group case and the company's progress in expanding to markets outside of PCs.
"In general, what we see is that things are improving," Smith said. The stimulus package in China has provided a direct boost to the PC market because of the government's efforts to close the digital divide among its population. And while the European market isn't yet showing strength, the U.S. market appears to be improving.
For Intel, the U.S. stimulus package will likely provide more of an indirect benefit, he said, as more focused subsidies, such as the "cash for clunkers" program and those targeted to homeowners, leave more money in consumers' pockets to spend on PCs. Smith continues to expect stimulus spending to peak next year.
Intel executives made some of the earliest statements declaring that the worst was over for the semiconductor and PC markets, with Chief Executive Paul Otellini telling investors in April that the market had reached a "bottom."
But as Silicon Valley works to dig out of the recession, several companies--including Intel--have been forced to investigate allegations that employees had leaked non-public information in one of the largest insider trading cases in history.
Earlier this month, Galleon Group founder Raj Rajaratnam and five others were arrested and charged in a $20 million insider-trading case. In addition to the hedge fund, the case has ensnared numerous technology executives, including a current and former employee of Intel, along with the former chief executive of Intel's main rival, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD).
Intel has said previously that it was not aware of the alleged insider trading, and has begun an investigation of its internal policies. The company has not been implicated in any wrong-doing.
"If it's true, it's a terrible crime, and there is no excuse for it," Smith said, noting that the company has many controls in place designed to prevent the dispersal of non-public information.
Intel has hired a law firm that specializes in reviewing companies' internal controls to evaluate its policies. Smith added that if the current allegations are accurate, there is likely little more a company can do to prevent this type of leak.
"I'm doubtful, in terms of internal policy, we are going to change anything," he said.
Earlier this week, The Wall Street Journal reported that Hector Ruiz, the former AMD CEO, was the executive that allegedly leaked information regarding the company's spin-off of its manufacturing unit into a separate company. Smith said that if the allegations are true, it would be "weird" for someone in such a high executive position to be implicated in an insider-trading case.
Meanwhile, Smith noted the progress Intel has made diversifying its product lines into new areas outside of PCs. Intel plans to bring its Atom line of processors, currently running the vast majority of netbooks, into smaller devices such as smartphones, while also expanding its market share into other consumer electronics, like Internet-connected televisions.
Netbooks have flown off the shelves over the past year as consumers trade in bigger, more powerful laptops for the smaller, Internet-focused machines.
When it comes to smartphones and other consumer devices, Smith said that, as Intel reaches some of those markets beginning in 2010, growth will be "truly incremental," to its current markets. Still, the pace of netbook adoption is probably not going to be repeated.
"Do I expect it to be as fast as netbooks? No," Smith said.
-By Jerry A. DiColo, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2155; jerry.dicolo@dowjones.com
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Publié le 29 octobre 2009 Copyright © 2009 Dowjones
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