Shares of Intel slumped and its rivals surged on Friday after the US chip maker signalled it may give up manufacturing its own components after falling far behind schedule developing its newest technology.
The coronavirus pandemic has pressured nearly every corner of the global economy, but analysts continue to see sunny days ahead for cloud computing and the ecosystem that surrounds the technology.
Intel is trying to sell its new laptop chips in an old way – by emphasising their speed. It’s touting the clock speed of its new H line of processors, citing their ability to process data at more than 5GHz.
Right now, data centres consume about 2% of the world’s electricity, but that’s expected to reach 8% by 2030. Moreover, only about 6% of all data ever created is in use today, according to research from Hewlett Packard Enterprise.
After a year of tough headlines, the world’s biggest technology companies showed last week that they’re powering through, continuing to rake in cash and invest in future growth.
AMD will license its graphics designs to Samsung for use in smartphones and tablets, taking its technology into a new market and helping differentiate products from the world’s biggest smartphone maker.
Intel, which had been the biggest beneficiary of a years-long, multibillion-dollar spending spree by the cloud computing industry, signalled an end to an expansion that drove record revenue and profit.
Samsung Electronics intends to invest the equivalent of about R1.7-trillion over the next decade or so to take on Intel and Qualcomm in the business of making advanced chip processors.
Semiconductor stocks fell in early trading on Monday after Nvidia cut its fourth-quarter revenue outlook, citing deteriorating macroeconomic conditions, particularly in China, along with weakness in its gaming and data centre divisions.
Intel’s first forecasts for 2019 sent a signal to investors that a torrent of spending on data centres, which has nourished sales and earnings growth for years, is beginning to dry up.
