Intel’s demand holds up amid flaw

Intel Corp, whose microprocessors dominate the personal-computer market, gave an upbeat quarterly and annual sales forecast, signalling optimism that demand will persist even as the industry scrambles to fix a vulnerability in its PC and server chips.

Sales in the current period will be about $15 billion (Dh55 billion), plus or minus $500 million, and annual revenue will rise to a record $65 billion, the company said in a statement late Thursday. That compares with average quarterly estimates for revenue of $15 billion and 2018 projections for sales of $63.9 billion.

Chief Executive Officer Brian Krzanich is grappling with the fallout from the disclosure of a security flaw that could let hackers use processors to illicitly access sensitive information on servers and PCs. That’s raised new questions about how reliant computer makers are on Intel’s products, which account for more than 90 per cent of the microprocessor market, and has given new urgency to Krzanich’s push to ease Intel’s dependence on the PC market for its own growth. For now, the vulnerability may be helping Intel as computer owners retire older systems and upgrade to secure their systems.