Intel has forecasted that the laptop and tablet market will witness cheaper hardware, this holiday season.
Intel CEO Brian Krzanich said (via
SeekingAlpha) during the company's earnings conference call that the market will get tablets that cost as low as $99, and tablet-notebook hybrids priced starting $349, thanks to the new Atom chips that the company has introduced over the last few months.
"Over the past couple of months, we have also launched 15 new 22-nanometer Atom SoCs. These products are designed for markets ranging from consumer tablets to cloud data centres. During the holiday selling season, you will see [the] SoCs [in] tablets as low as $99 and in 2-in-1 systems as [low] as $349."
Krzanich also said that he expected Haswell (fourth-generation Intel Core processors) powered laptops to be available at a starting price of $299.
"At the same time, you will also find Haswell systems with outstanding performance and 50 percent better battery life using Windows 8, and as low as $299. Together Bay Trail and Haswell are making possible a range of innovative new form factors at breakthrough price points," he added.
Intel posted net earnings of $2.95 billion, or 58 cents a share, in the third-quarter, compared to $2.97 billion, or 58 cents share, in the year-ago quarter.
Intel is betting that its current Haswell PC processor with improved battery life will boost sales for the rest of 2013, beyond the typically strong third quarter when PC manufacturers buy chips in anticipation of holiday demand.
However, its
current-quarter revenue outlook fell short and it warned that production of its upcoming Broadwell processors was delayed. The preparations for the Broadwell chip, which will succeed Haswell, have fallen behind projections by about three months due to technical setbacks, Brian Krzanich told analysts on the conference call following Intel's quarterly report.
With agency inputs