News
Intel Posting Breakthrough Year
- By Herb Torrens
- 10/15/2008
It's been a busy week for the world's largest chip maker. On Tuesday, Intel Corporation announced its best third-quarter revenues in company history. On Wednesday, the company acquired NetEffect Inc., and won a
Popular Mechanics "Breakthrough" Award for its Atom Chip.
While much of the economy was floundering in the third quarter, Intel posted revenues of $10.2 billion and net income of $2 billion, which amounted to earnings of 35 cents per share.
Intel President and CEO Paul Otellini remarked in a company release that the profits reflected a "strong across-the-board execution and best-of-class products."
Wednesday Intel announced the acquisition of Austin-based NetEffect Inc., for $8 million. NetEffect specializes in Ethernet products that includes Ethernet adapters "for servers and blade configurations" and 10-gigabit Ethernet Specific Integrated Circuits.
In a statement about the acquisition, Intel's Tom Swinford, general manager of the Intel LAN Access Division, said the move will address customers' "10-gigabit Ethernet needs, including server virtualization, convergence of network and storage traffic and server computer clusters."
Intel's current 10GbE server adapters feature single- and dual-port solutions for both copper and fiber. NetEffect brings "complementary High Performance Network Interface Card (NIC) products" to the company's portfolio.
In more good news this week, Intel's Atom Processor was deemed "one of the innovations poised to change the world" at the annual Popular Mechanics Breakthrough Awards. The Atom Processor is a chip that brings "PC-like capabilities and a rich Internet experience" to mobile internet devices including netbooks and nettops.
Full coverage of the Breakthrough Awards, including Intel's Atom Processor, will be published in next month's issue of Popular Mechanics.
About the Author
Herb Torrens is an award-winning freelance writer based in Southern California. He managed the MCSP program for a leading computer telephony integrator for more than five years and has worked with numerous solution providers including HP/Compaq, Nortel, and Microsoft in all forms of media.