Penang (Malaysia), Aug 26: Intel Corp's Craig Barrett said today it is too early to predict a recovery in the information technology sector, even though his company has just raised its forecast for third-quarter sales.
"We're seeing strong seasonal strength in all geographies across the board," the chief executive of the world's largest computer chip maker said today during a visit to an Intel manufacturing plant in Malaysia. "But we're not sure ... If that signifies some start to a recovery."
"We're going to be very conservative in our forecasting, so we're not forecasting a recovery in the IT sector yet," Barrett told reporters in Northern Penang state.
As supplier of central processors to around 80 per cent of the world's personal computers, the Santa Clara, California-based semiconductor giant generally has a good idea about the state of the PC market.

In a sign that demand for personal computers was gaining strength, Intel on Friday raised its third-quarter sales forecast to between USD 7.3 billion and USD 7.8 billion, compared with its earlier forecast of USD 6.9 billion and USD 7.5 billion.



Analysts differed on whether the announcement represented merely a stronger-than-usual back-to-school season or if it signaled the start of a long-awaited upgrade cycle in which companies and consumers replace older machines with new ones.



Barrett said it would "take a couple of quarters of above-average growth first to forecast a resurgence in the IT sector."


Bureau Report