Intel has its best quarter ever, brings in $2.9b profit
By Nilay Patel 
posted July 13th 2010 4:31PM
posted July 13th 2010 4:31PM
Sure, smartphone and tablets might be the Next Big Thing, but desktop computing ain't dead yet -- just ask Intel, which just reported its best-ever quarter with a $2.9b profit on $10.8b in revenue. That's an increase of $445m in profit from last quarter and a whopping $3.3b from last year, all driven by record laptop and server chip revenue, as well as a 16 percent increase in Atom revenue. What's more, the average sale price of all those chips went up, and selling more chips at a higher price is always good for business. Intel's got a call to discuss these numbers in depth at 5:30PM ET, we'll let you know if we hear anything good.
Wait till they launch Moorestown devices running MeeGo!
@statickeith
This much in profit.. anyone feel like with these kinds of profits shouldn't there be a much higher amount of innovation than some hella-cores i7 i9 chipsets?
Maybe I'm just bitter and want things like battery life tech to come out of the dark ages.
@statickeith - May until they launch Moorestown devices running Android. That is a lot more interesting.
@NemZero They also completely redesigned their CPU cores from the ground up with the i7s. you forget that they essentially removed the need for a northbridge in the newest procs and even though AMDs been doing that for years this is a HUGE shift in production and a change in the entire architecture. Just because you don't see a difference doesn't mean there isn't one.
@statickeith
They have the best processors around. I mean, AMD is nowhere to be found. Do they even make NEW processors anymore?
@MrFluffyThing
My comment is a bit generalized, but still applies. They reworked their chipset.. I understand we don't see everything, but that's all I see.
@MrFluffyThing
They have not done anything new
They killed labree. And there cpus are outrageously expensive.
@MrFluffyThing
The i core series is not ment to be a big jump in innovation. This is the tik part of their tik tok bi yearly cycle. SandyBridge will bring innovation
@DefPoet I agree it's nothing big, but it's also not the same old chip with everything just centralized, it's a reworking from the ground up.
@NemZero oh heaven forbid a company makes a profit, continues to employee people and offers a solid product.
Cry me a river...
@statickeith I will! But i want Windows 7 tablets with capacitive screens and cheap Intel SSD as well, perhaps more even. Microsoft has been a Intel partner forever now, so ill trust their high-performance collaboration first.
@Intel Please cut SSD prices for the coming tablet season ;) Also, increase buffer size across the board!
@NemZero know, this is quite a lotta profit. Intel makes awesome processors (i7 was SO FREAKIN' POWERFUL!) But imagine that kind of progress along with progress in mobile and table industry. Profit would nearly double after that for intel.
@dforbes
When Moore's law crumbles in another 10, 20 yrs and battery's evolve, I think that is when we truly will see a whole new innovation. Anything from here on is just a copy of the last with minor improvements.
@NemZero How is that a reply to statickeith?
Nice
Intel pwns AMD
@Drago I agree. All the AMD fanboys insist AMD is alive and kickin' and an integral part of chips and all this nonsense. Whenever I shop on Newegg and look at the Intel motherboards and compare their features to AMD motherboards it's like comparing a 2010 motherboard to a 2006 motherboard. But I will hand it to AMD in the GPU market, ATI rocks.
@Doomtomb
Very often it is AMD hardware that offers far better bang-for-the-buck than Intel hardware.
$10.8 billion in revenue. o_O
@KlassiK
Sounds about right. Microsoft brings in more than that and every CPU sale has a 75% chance of being paired with windows
@KlassiK
In ONE quarter...that is enough to buy ALL of NVIDIA...
@KlassiK
And Apple's market cap is still much higher!
Why?
@Someguyperson market capitalization = outstanding shares * share price. Share price is not just derived directly from the company's bottom line, it is also based on perceived value and supply/demand.
@Someguyperson
Market created value can drop very quickly too.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66B0OD20100713
Microsoft make three times the profit of Apple, market cap is just a sign of popularity.
I wish I would've brought some shares then...
Still don't know why people think desktops are dead :\
Built mine about 4 months ago.
@n11
Because for casual, home computing, most people would rather be on the couch with their computer, than hunched over a desk with their neck turned so that they can see the TV.
The PERSONAL computer is no longer the desktop. Desktop computers are generally now used by everyone in the family, in more of a media hub/server fashion. The PERSONAL devices are becoming smaller and smaller, until they are all hand held devices that can seamlessly dock with larger displays and additional peripherals. Mobile is absolutely the final frontier in "home" (meaning not done at work) computing.
@crawdad689 quite right bud - the people have spoken!
We must have powerful, light, capacitive tablets for Windows Mac and Linux! From the moment these become a standard we will be living in a New World Order :)
@crawdad689 I agree except for the "final frontier bit" :) mobile is the end of perhaps the external paradigm of physical phones/pocket devices- just in case we don't resort to some sort of computer in a pair of spectacles with built-in hud and headphones type thing.., but then I'm assuming we're going to be putting these things into our bodies in the coming decades. Scary stuff but exciting... having a huge pixel display inside your eyeball using your own neural pathways or whatever they dream of.
As soon as you try and project out a decade or two, it just sounds ludicrous what could possibly be the future. lol.
yep the i3 i5 i7 really gave them a good name this year!
And to think, only 2 billion of that came from Mac buyers.
I kid...
@Booksmart Devil
Lol like the third party side of those inflated prices ever see a dime. It would be funny if Intel started charging Apple more for the same CPU's that they sell to Lenovo, HP and Dell. Complete the cycle Intel/nVidia
they're absoloute wankers for their ridiculous price of the new processors
@dedparrot
Yeah, why is there a huge jump in price from the i7-930 to the 950 to the 980? I mean, I know you're paying for the performance increase, but the 930 to 980 is a 200% increase in price.
@bravokiloromeo Why? Because they want to make $2.9 Billion again.
@dedparrot
well, judging by their profits.. i think being a wanker is a good thing!!
@dedparrot It's called Capitalism.
@SarnGate
There's a difference between capitalism and greed
@DefPoet
there's no difference between capitalism and greed.
@dedparrot
Agreed
@dedparrot
Not be a socialist but I took a class last semester on Karl Marx's Capital book. We are in what people would call "monopoly capitalism"
Little fact: Marx praised capitalism in its early stages for its rapid innovation and advances.
Everything is Proceeding to Plan....For them
@Lord Vader That reminds me... Did the computers on the Death Star rock Intel or AMD?
@FamiCube64 We used Intel darkside®
@FamiCube64
Cyrix.
@FamiCube64 As opposed to the weaker Intel Inside®
@Lord Vader Intel + Star Wars = FAIL.
Star Trek + Star Wars = a socialists wet dream.
@DrScope There are capitalist societies in both. The Trade Federation (RIP) and The Ferengi. If we had matter/anti-matter annihilation producing energy and replicators then we wouldn't need a capitalist society either, but we don't, so we do.
@d0mth0ma5
The Ferengi were only sort of capitalist. They had one large monopoly, otherwise known as their global government, led by the Grand Nagus. In a "free" capitalist society, real monopolies would never have a chance to truly endure. They'd always fall eventually due to market forces.
Contracts are also a cornerstone of capitalist and free societies. I believe a rule of acquisition is "a contract is a contract is a contract... but only between Ferengi." A society that operated like that would have extremely limited real world economic success.
Wow, I can't believe I'm debating sci-fi-conmics. Have i hit rock bottom?
Looking forward to hearing Intel's profits when Meego comes out on a Nokia. Explosion or not?