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Intel reported its second quarter fiscal 2014 financial results on July 15, once again showing growth across multiple product segments. One area that is still growing is Intel’s PC unit, which has some key things going for it.
For the quarter, Intel reported revenue of $13.8 billion, which is an 8 percent year over year gain. Net income was reported at $2.8 billion, for a 4 percent year-over-year gain. Looking forward, Intel provided guided for third quarter revenue of $14.4 billion.
“The improving economic environment, PC refresh, form factor innovation and the end-of-life of Windows XP combined to drive better than expected demand,” Brian Krzanich, Intel’s CEO said during his company’s earnings call. “In fact microprocessor volume in the second quarter was an all-time record.”
A number of segments within Intel are growing strongly. Intel’s data center business reported record revenue of $3.5 billion, representing 19 percent growth year-over-year. Intel’s Internet of Things business group Internet of Things Group grew by 24 percent year-over-year, reporting second quarter 2014 revenue of $539 million.
Leading the pack in terms of revenue is Intel’s PC Client Group, which reported revenue of $8.7 billion for a six percent year-over-year gain. Krzanich sees a number of factors driving the PC market forward. One of those factors is the fact there that are 600 million systems in use today that are four years or older, which are in need of refresh. Krzanich also sees new competitive price points and Windows XP end-of-life as being key drivings of PC market growth.
Intel also has plans to reinvigorate consumer interest. Krzanich said that there is a lot of new technology in the pipeline, including the Intel Core M Broadwell platform.
“Those are going to allow really a whole new class of system as we go out through the holidays and into next year where they’re two-in-one devices but they now become fanless, ultrathin, very portable, long-battery life, strong Core performance or Core like performance,” Krzanich said. ” We believe that will bring another class of system into the market as well, along with just an overall general refresh of many, many of the form factors.”
Intel is also planning on launching its next generation Haswell-based Xeon E5 platform, codenamed Grantley, later this quarter. The first 14-nanometer Broadwell Core M processor-based systems, including fanless two-in-ones, are expected to have retail availability for the holiday selling season, followed by broader OEM availability in the first half of 2015.
Sean Michael Kerner is a senior editor at Datamation and InternetNews.com. Follow him on Twitter @TechJournalist
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