Intel has confessed that it is unlikely to hit its targets this year, exacerbating talk that consumers are increasingly looking to tablets rather than PCs or waiting for Windows 8 to launch.
Intel had previously suggested 'high single digit growth' for its revenue in 2012, but has slahed that to between three and five per cent.
The company has insisted that other factors are to blame, but the talk is inevitably about tablets and Windows.
"Emerging markets, especially China and Brazil, are still growing nicely but are moderating due to GDP adjustments and currency fluctuations," Intel chief executive Paul Otellini told analysts on a conference call.
Windows and tablets
The rise of the tablet has been well documented, with Intel playing catch-up to a host of competitors in the mobile chip market, many of them using ARM designs.
Another factor is the impending launch of Windows 8, which could be preventing businesses and consumers from making a PC purchase until it launches later this year.
Even this could be less of a win for Intel than it has proved in the past, with the next generation of Windows also making an appearance on ARM devices, breaking away from the Intel x86 platform for the first time.
Regardless of what is causing the problem, Intel is aware that the landscape in computing is changing hugely, and the company's big challenge now is to make sure that its dominance of the chip industry does not wane.
Via Reuters
