Intel set its goal to break reliance on personnel computers in 2016.
That’s because the PC market is not the money-spinner it once was for the chip maker. As desktop and laptop shipments fall, so also are Intel’s overall chip shipments and revenue.
To be sure, the Client Computing Group (CCG) which deals in PC and mobile chips remains Intel’s largest business and generates the most revenue. But Intel is pivoting to adjacent growth markets such as data centers, the Internet of Things and memory, which the company hopes will ultimately provide revenue exceeding that of PCs.
Intel’s Data Center Group (DCG), IoT and memory divisions generated 40 percent of the company’s revenue in the 2015 financial year. That will grow even more in 2016, said Brian Krzanich, CEO of Intel, during a fourth quarter earnings call on Thursday.
Intel reported revenue of US$14.9 billion in the fourth quarter of 2015, growing by 1 percent year-over-year, while profit was up 1 percent at $3.6 billion. CCG revenue was $8.8 billion, declining by 1 percent. Revenue for DCG in contrast grew 5 percent to $4.3 billion while the revenue of the IoT group was up 6 percent to $625 million.
The company will continue to drive innovation in the PC business, but it won’t be the sole driver of the company’s growth in 2016, Krzanich said.
“Our future as a company will increasingly be the virtuous cycle of opportunities in the data center, memory and IoT market segments,” Krzanich said.
