Intel (INTC) says sales of its new "Atom" chips are off to a good start, although it is unclear what that means. The product line was created for a new generation of portable wireless devices which will sit in the crease between smartphones and PCs. The trouble is that such a crease probably does not exist.
According to Reuters, "Atom is off to a very, very rapid start, far exceeding our expectations when we started the year," Chief Financial Officer Stacy Smith said in an interview. "It’s the perfect recession product to have in the marketplace.
There is no perfect product for a recession. Beyond that Apple (AAPL), RIM (RIMM), and Nokia (NOK) are not going to allow tiny PC-like machines to take away the high end of their market, especially now that 3G networks allow for fast wireless handset connections to the internet.
Intel is going to have to stick to PCs and servers.
Douglas A. McIntyre
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