On Top Of A Growth Engine

Back in July 2009, Intel asserted that the young recovery of 2009 would be anything but lackluster.

On Tuesday, the leaders of the chip giant re-asserted their claims for 2010 and beyond.

Paul Otellini, Intel's CEO, told analysts that its earnings per share and revenue should grow at an average annual rate in the "low double-digits" over the next few years. "We are on top of a growth engine," Mr. Otellini said.

You may remember that last year -- in the face of a global financial crisis -- Intel chose to spend $7B in new U.S R&D facilities, while competition retrenched in the face of credit woes. Intel can now exploit those technological advantages and continue to deliver new products with much higher performance and lower power consumption. Otellini stated that those advances now drive the company's products into a plethora of new devices such as cellphones, digital TVs, car electronics, cameras, and other consumer electronics.

"Intel has a unique set of attributes that no one can replicate," Mr. Otellini said. "This stuff gets harder to do and we are going to get better at it."

For Intel, it looks like 2010 (and perhaps 2011) will also be anything but lackluster.