Intel (INTC), PCs, Tablets and Future

The surprising performance of Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) in the last quarter generated questions as to the reliability of projections tablets will eat deeply into PC sales going forward.

UBS (NYSE:UBS) analyst Uche Orji concluded that “more than 50% of PC sales are now from emerging markets, making it inherently more difficult to track; desktops are performing better than expected, and with 1/3 of PCs in emerging markets built by white box makers, market data estimates don’t capture it all; ASPs were better than expected as Sandy Bridge drove a richer mix; Foxconn, Pegatron and Samsung are tracking better than the reporting Taiwanese ODMs we track.”

Numerous analysts weighed in on the story, and all of them had their own bullish or bearish takes; in many cases directly contradicting the arguments of their counterparts.

Normally that means the market is clueless as to what is the state of a particular situation, and it'll only be revealed over time.

The tablet, PC story has yet to play out as to its actual effects on Intel and other companies.

Intel was trading at $21.15, gaining $1.29, or 6.50 percent, as of 1:45 PM EDT.

Intel (INTC) Powers Valves New Steam Guard

One of the most exciting features of Valve's Steam game-buying and distribution service is its ability to give you access to all your games on any PC. But this also has the potential to create problems, particularly if you have it installed on computers that are easily accessible by others. Valve has announced a new way of dealing with this: Steam Guard.

This new feature in both Steam and the Steamworks development suite links account management to only one PC. Any attempts on another system to modify account settings will require the registered user's approval. In addition, users will be notified if any PCs other than the authorized "control" system tries to log into their account or modify its settings.

Steam Guard works by using a feature from Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) called Identity Protection Technology (IPT), which is hardware-based encryption included in Intel's new second-generation Core (aka "Sandy Bridge") and Core vPro processors. IPT generates a new numerical password every 30 seconds that only Steam Guard can know, thus ensuring the proper computer is being used to access the Steam account.

This also means—for now, at least—that computers running AMD processors will not be able to take advantage of Steam Guard security.




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AMD (NYSE:AMD) Squanders Opp with Intel's (INTC) Sandy Bridge Troubles

Slip-ups by a competitor are usually good for business, but Intel's (NASDAQ:INTC)recent problems with its Sandy Bridge chips won't help Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE:AMD) to steal market share from its bigger rival, according to IDC.

The delay of an upcoming AMD chip code-named "Llano," which was designed to compete with Sandy Bridge, has shut down AMD's window of opportunity to gain market share from Intel, said Shane Rau, a research director at IDC. The Llano chips, which were due early this year, have been delayed due to manufacturing issues and will not launch before the middle of this year.

Intel announced new Core i5 and i7 processors based on the Sandy Bridge architecture for high-end PCs in early January. But shipments hit a snag later that month when Intel found a design flaw in the 6-series chipset, code-named Cougar Point, that's used in PCs with Sandy Bridge processors. It halted shipments of the chipset, which prompted PC makers to delay systems and issue refunds. Intel fixed the issue and started shipping replacement chipsets on Feb. 14.

Looking to take advantage of Intel's chipset woes, AMD said Feb. 18 it would launch a new marketing campaign titled "Ready. Willing. And Stable." to promote its CPUs and graphics processors.






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Intel (Nasdaq:INTC) Revenue Outlook Lowered by $300 Million

Intel (Nasdaq:INTC) said they're cutting their revenue projections in the first quarter by $300 million, citing an issue in connection with their recently released support chip.

Via a press release, Intel said they found their new support chip has ports within its 6 Series that could "degrade over time." That could result in devices connected to the ports to underperform or have an impact on its functionality.

The Intel 6 Series chipset is installed in computers with Intel's new second-generation core processors, Sandy Bridge - which started to be shipped on January 9.

Trading on Intel was temporarily stopped on the news, but has since resumed.

Intel said they've stopped shipping the chips and have started manufacturing a new version without the issue.

The company will take a charge against goods sold, and will spend approximately $700 million to take care of the problem.

For the full year, they said revenue shouldn't "be materially affected."

Intel was trading at $21.24, down $0.22, or 1.05 percent, as of 11:45 AM EST.

JPMorgan's (NYSE:JPM) Says Intel’s (Nasdaq:INTC) Sandy Bridge Processor Won't Drive PC Sales

Checks by JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) find that the much-hyped Sandy Bridge processor appears not to be driving PC sales, as they haven't been able to find delays in PC purchases as a result of it, pressuring Intel (Nasdaq:INTC).

JPMorgan said, “We do not believe Intel’s new Sandy Bridge processor will drive overall global PC demand in Q1 of 2011, as we cannot find evidence of PC purchases delayed for it.”

The fallout will probably be that Intel results will be disappointing in the fourth quarter.

JPMorgan analyst Chris Danely maintains his view expressed several weeks ago that they will have trouble reaching even the mid-point of their revenue projection of $11.4 billion.

He sees earnings in the fourth quarter coming in at 47 cents a share, far below the 53 cents the Street is looking for.

JPMorgan reiterates their "Neutral" rating on Intel, which was trading at $21.06, down $0.09, or 0.45 percent, as of 12:20 PM EST.