Chip maker Intel, one of Ireland's biggest multi-national employers, has reported better than expected revenue for the first quarter of 2011.
There had been fears that the company was struggling as growth in PC sales slows.
Sales held up strongly despite a hiccup in sales of its Sandy Bridge processors after the discovery of a chipset design flaw. This eased fears that the growing popularity of smartphones and tablets would begin to eat into the PC chip business.
The company reported a 25% jump in first-quarter revenue to $12.8 billion, beating estimates. First-quarter net profit was $3.2 billion, up 29% from a year earlier. Analysts had expected first-quarter revenue of $11.59 billion.
Concerns that Apple's iPad tablets are squeezing sales of traditional PCs have hung over Intel, along with worries across the electronics industry about supply constraints after Japan's March 14 earthquake and tsunami.
Computer sales in the first quarter fell for the first time since 2009 as Apple's iPad attracted buyers in droves and Japan focused on recovering from the earthquake and tsunami, according to research firm Gartner.
Last night's Intel figures were the first to include results from Intel's $7.68 billion acquisition of data security firm McAfee and its $1.4 billion purchase of Infineon's wireless business.
Helped by those additions, Intel said revenue in the current quarter would be $12.8 billion, plus or minus $500m. This was also well ahead of expectations.
In February, shipments of Intel's new cutting-edge Sandy Bridge processors were interrupted after a flaw was discovered in a chipset used alongside them.
Intel said the defect would mean $300m less in revenue for the first quarter, and cost $700m to repair and replace. But it expects the lost sales to be made up for in later quarters.
CFO Stacy Smith said he saw no hindrance to their production despite supply constraints that are limiting the shipment and availability of electronics parts from Japan.
