September 23, 2009

SAN FRANCISCO -- Intel Corp.'s chief executive said he expects PC unit sales for the year will end their declines and be "flat to slightly" up.

"I think [the PC industry] is more than resilient, it's amazing," said Paul Otellini, who spoke at Intel's annual forum for technology developers here.

This year's Intel Developer Forum follows an industry slump that hit bottom in last year's fourth quarter and has gradually eased since then. Mr. Otellini noted that many forecasters had originally expected a big drop in unit personal-computer sales for 2009, and most still call for a slight decline.

Intel used the forum to announce an effort to help chip customers set up their own clearinghouses to distribute programs for a variety of gadgets as part of its strategy to promote the use of its chips outside computer markets.

The effort is designed to broaden the appeal of an Intel chip called Atom that is now mainly used in low-end laptops called netbooks.

Intel, extending an idea that Apple Inc. popularized with software for the iPhone, hopes developers will create simple, downloaded apps -- likely starting with netbooks, but later for cellphones, consumer-electronics devices and other Atom-based products.

Intel doesn't plan to operate app stores itself, but will provide what it calls a technology framework to help Atom customers to set up their own.

Source:- http://online.wsj.com