Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) CFO Concerned about Mature, Emerging Markets

Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) Chief Financial Officer Stacy Smith said at an investor conference that he's concerned "about the tenuous nature of the macroeconomic recovery in mature markets" and about overheating in emerging markets.

Since that covers about every country that can afford to acquire products with Intel chips in them, it appears Smith is concerned about every country.

That's not to say he was pessimistic, but apparently more honest and realistic about the actual condition of the global economy than most executives are or admit to.

Even so, Smith sees tremendous overall opportunity going forward, and believes Intel will be entering into the expanding mobile device market in either the latter part of 2011 or at the latest - early 2012.

About the overall small device market, Smith noted, "At the end of the day, what we're seeing is a market where hundreds of millions of units that connect to the Internet over time become billions of units. For us, we look at that as being a huge opportunity. Anything that computes and connects to the Internet becomes part of the total market we can go after."

As for concerns over competing in the smartphone segment, Smith said "Our credibility goes up as soon as [Intel-powered smartphones] start shipping."

He was also high on the growth potential in the data-center business, which should be a growth driver for Intel going forward.

Intel closed Tuesday at $21.45, dropping $0.12, or 0.56 percent.