Intel gets Apple boost

Upcoming products from the Apple-Intel partnership will help Intel's bottom line in the coming quarters, but the transition may not be complete by the end of year as many industry observers had speculated, according to an investment research firm. J.P. Morgan, which maintained a "neutral" rating on Intel in anticipation of overcapacity, after the firm's checks indicated that Intel is on track to begin shipping processors for Apple's new PCs this quarter, according to the Forbes report. "We expect the PCs to be introduced at MacWorld next week," wrote the analyst in a research note on Friday. The firm also said that about 55 percent of this year's Mac shipments will have Intel CPUs: JP Morgan estimates just over 8.7 million Macs for the 2006 calendar year, which translates into roughly 4.8 million Intel processors. Every 1 million Intel-based Macs would augment Intel's earnings per share by a little less than 1 cent, according to the report. The firm raised its 2006 estimates for Intel to earnings of $1.59 per share on revenue of $42.8 billion, from earnings of $1.55 per share on revenue of $42.2 billion, according to Forbes.com.

by MacNN Staff