Intel says chip industry to split into leaders and copycats

OPTIMISTIC FORECASTS of growth in the semiconductor business are overoptimistic, the CEO of Intel told a German newspaper today.

Speaking to the Sueddeutche Zeitung, Dr Craig Barrett said growth rates will slump by a couple of percentage points but will remain in the "double digit" area.

And that means it's likely we'll see further consolidation in the business.

The market will divide into technology leaders and "copycats", a category to which Intel does not belong, said Barrett.

Companies like TI and Intel are "industry leaders", implying that other companies - AMD and IBM perhaps - are "copycats".

Corporations are still not convinced of the need to upgrade, Barrett told the newspaper.

Off the record, Intel executives have told the INQUIRER that it isn't going to start breaking out the champagne until it sees nine consecutive quarters of positive growth. That should be a lesson to us all. µ

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