Intel reports record annual and quarter sales
Sales for the whole of 2004 hit a new annual record for the company, leaping by 13.5% on 2003 to US$34.2 billion. Intel’s previous record was US$33.7 billion, achieved during the boom year of 2000.
Despite the impressive growth in revenues, the company’s profits during the fourth quarter fell by 2% year-on-year to US$2.1 billion, perhaps as a consequence of a price war in the memory market with its bitter rival AMD.
The price war also appears to have taken its toll on AMD. The company has issued an unexpected profit warning, forecasting that its memory group - which accounts for around half its sales - will suffer lower fourth quarter sales and an operating loss.
Although AMD has been making some ground up on Intel in the microprocessor arena, it seems to be losing the battle in the flash memory market, analysts predicting that its share of the NOR flash market has declined from 28% to 20% over the past two quarters. Intel, meanwhile, has regained its market leadership in this sector.
Intel is expecting to achieve sales of between US$8.8 billion and US$9.4 billion in the seasonally weak first quarter of 2005.