quarterly figures
Intel boss: chip shortage until 2023
The demand for capacities in data centers has been increasing for years. Photo: Uli Deck/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Intel invests billions in hopes of becoming an industry leader again with new production technologies. The money for the conversion is provided, among other things, by the data center business.
According to the industry giant Intel, the global shortage of chips will continue for at least another year.
The bottlenecks are likely to last until 2023, with a gradual improvement in the situation, said Intel boss Pat Gelsinger when presenting the latest quarterly figures on Wednesday.
Intel was able to increase its sales in the past quarter thanks to increases in the business with chips for data centers. But spending on expanding production, among other things, is weighing on profitability, which is worrying some analysts and investors. However, Gelsinger was determined to push ahead with the billion-euro investments.
exceeded expectations
Intel’s quarterly revenue increased year-on-year by three percent to $20.5 billion. The group thus exceeded the expectations of the analysts. Bottom line, the quarterly profit fell at the same time by 21 percent to 4.6 billion dollars.
The demand for capacity in data centers has been increasing for years and the growth accelerated even further in the Corona pandemic with video conferencing and more digital entertainment. Intel is one of the vendors benefiting from this. Quarterly sales at the store increased 20 percent to $7.3 billion. At the same time, the operating result fell by almost 17 percent to $1.73 billion.
problems and pressure
In the business with PC processors, revenues fell by seven percent to $ 10.1 billion. The division’s operating profit fell 23 percent to just under $3.5 billion. The PC market experienced a strong upswing during the corona pandemic – but there was a setback at the end of last year, partly because of the global component bottlenecks.
Intel also has the problem that Apple is switching more and more models of its Macbook computers to chips it has developed itself. As a result, Intel sold a total of 26 percent fewer notebook processors in the past quarter than a year earlier. The fact that the average price of notebook chips was also 14 percent higher helped cushion the effect on sales.
Intel has come under more pressure in recent years, especially after the industry leader failed to gain a foothold in the booming smartphone market. Recently, production technology problems have delayed the introduction of a new generation of chips, allowing smaller rival AMD to gain market share. Gelsinger, who has been at the helm of Intel for about a year, promises to make Intel an undisputed industry leader again. But that will take a few years, he emphasized on Wednesday.
Last week alone, Intel announced plans to build two new factories in the US state of Ohio for more than $20 billion. Gelsinger’s strategy includes making Intel a contract manufacturer that produces chips for other suppliers in addition to its own processors. The group is currently also looking for a location for a new factory in Europe.