On the Call: Intel CEO addresses fears Europe, China could trigger another slowdown

On the Call: Intel CEO Paul Otellini

SAN FRANCISCO — By all accounts, Intel Corp.’s second quarter was a blowout.

The chipmaker booked its largest quarterly net income in a decade and raised its full-year profit forecast. Yet a fear hanging over the numbers was that the computer industry might be headed for another slowdown because of economic wobbliness in Europe and signs of slowing demand in China. More than half of Intel’s revenue comes from Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.

Intel CEO Paul Otellini addressed those concerns on a conference call with analysts.

QUESTION: Did you notice weakness in any particular geography in the quarter?

ANSWER (Otellini): “Everything was up, in particular on the commercial or enterprise side of the business. In terms of China, it was a little slow-going early in the quarter and it got good toward the end, similar to Europe. … Things settled down in both geographies by the end of the quarter. The net was, year-over-year, things were nicely up.”