intel

Intel's cautious outlook suggests the PC market still stinks

Looks like the suckage in the PC market is likely to continue, Windows 8 notwithstanding. Chip giant Intel today offered a fairly grim outlook for the current quarter, saying PC buyers remain cautious about new purchases thanks to the lousy economy and -- although Intel didn't say this in so many words -- the ongoing flight of consumers from PCs to tablets and smartphones.

Chief Financial Officer Stacy Smith put it this way:

[The] slight increase in revenue in the fourth quarter reflects the caution we are seeing in the order patterns of our customers as a result of … Read more

Apple rethinking Samsung chip partnership, say sources

Apple has begun the process of lessening its dependency on Samsung for chipmaking, an analyst told CNET.

"Apple is working with TSMC at 20 nanometers," said Gus Richard, a chip analyst at Piper Jaffray, referring to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company's most advanced 20-nanometer (nm) manufacturing process.

Another chip industry source contacted by CNET confirmed this. "The Apple-Samsung relationship has deteriorated to such a poor point that they're just looking to fill contractual obligations, then make a change," said the source, who corroborated the move to TSMC at 20 nanometers.

An Asia-based news report said … Read more

AMD preps layoffs that could hit 30 percent of its workers

Advanced Micro Devices is prepping for layoffs that could impact a significant percentage of its staff, CNET has learned.

The company, which makes processors for PCs and servers, could let go 20 percent to 30 percent of its employees within coming weeks, according to people familiar with the matter, though they added that the number of affected workers might also be lower.

AMD may announce the move -- its second big staff cut in the past year -- as soon as next week. It reports quarterly earnings Thursday. AMD had 11,737 employees as of the end of the second … Read more

IDC analyst slams Windows 8 device pricing

An IDC analyst doesn't like what he's seeing so far from PC makers and their pricing for Windows 8 products.

Lenovo and Acer this week began disclosing pricing for tablets and convertibles that range between $499 (Acer) and $1,099 (Lenovo). Bob O'Donnell, program vice president of clients and displays at IDC, doesn't think this kind of traditional PC pricing bodes well for the sales of newfangled hybrid devices.

"The problem is these things are priced way too high. Look at the history of tablet products priced above the iPad. Not pretty," he said … Read more

PC shipments to decline for first time since dot-com bust

In case we needed any more evidence about a grim PC market, IHS iSuppli has clinched it.

Worldwide computer shipments are set to decline this year for the first time since 2001, the tech research firm says today. That means the market will total about 348.7 million units in 2012, down 1.2 percent from last year.

IHS noted that the year started out promising, with Intel and PC makers touting thin-and-light ultrabooks at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. But quarterly sales have proved to be disappointing, and the usual boost from the key back-to-school season "… Read more

Tech giants to talk patent reform at the U.N.

Apple, Google, Microsoft and other tech giants are meeting in Switzerland today to discuss patent litigation reform, seeking to find ways to protect their intellectual property without hurting innovation.

The roundtable, hosted by the U.N.'s International Telecommunication Union in its Geneva headquarters, will cover topics such as "potential improvements to existing policy frameworks, entitlement to injunctive reliefs, and definitions of what constitutes a royalty base."

The group hopes to find out how standard essential patents can be enforced without hindering competition and how to make sure licenses can be offered at reasonable terms.

"We are … Read more

AMD launches its response to Intel's tablet processor

Advanced Micro Devices has announced its answer to Intel's tablet chip, just as Windows 8 devices are about to flood the market.

AMD's Z-60 chip is being marketed as a chip for the "performance tablet" segment.

Translation: it's packing high-performance graphics silicon, which boasts 80 Radeon graphics cores, with the graphics processing unit (GPU) rated at a speed of 275MHz (see chart below).

Its two central processing unit (CPU) cores are rated at 1GHz.

The chip can be squeezed into designs as thin as 10mm, AMD said in a statement.

The first tablets based on … Read more

Motorola Razr i heads south to Brazil

The Motorola and Intel collaboration that is the Razr i is now available for purchase in Brazil. Priced at $1,299 reals (roughly $640), the Intel-based device runs Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and features a 4.3-inch 540x960-pixel qHD Super AMOLED display, 1GB RAM, and an 8-megapixel camera.

Nearly identical to Verizon's Droid Razr M, the Razr i boasts a large, edge-to-edge screen, yet in a form factor typically reserved for smaller handsets. Additional details for the smartphone include 8GB internal storage, microSD expansion, and a very respectable 2,000mAh battery.

Motorola says that although the Razr … Read more

Fate of Silicon Valley bleak, according to silicon CEOs

Chief executives from Intel and Cypress Semiconductor say Silicon Valley is in a bad state.

Literally. The basic problem is California, according to recent comments from Intel CEO Paul Otellini and Cypress CEO T.J. Rogers.

Speaking at the Intel Capital Global Summit on Wednesday, Otellini said Intel has not added a job in California in at least a decade, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

He characterized California's future as bleak for businesses. "We're so close to screwing it up, it's pathetic...I worry that we have to hit the abyss before … Read more