Intel sells record number of Core i7s and K chips amid declining CPU sales

Intel posted an 8 percent drop in client processor sales in its fiscal year, but sold more high-end chips than ever. More than half of the chips are now produced at 14nm.

The annual turnover of Intel’s Client Computing Group, the division for desktop and laptop processors, achieved a turnover of 32.2 billion dollars in 2015, or 29.6 billion euros. That was 8 percent lower than in 2014, and fourth-quarter sales also declined year-on-year, by 3 percent to $8.8 billion. Intel is suffering from declining PC sales but this is somewhat offset by higher sales of high-end products, according to the notes to the annual and quarterly figures.

“In the year, high-end Core i7 processors and our K products for gaming set volume records,” said Brian Krzanich, Intel CEO. The average price of chips sold at the end of 2015 would therefore be 17 percent higher than at the end of 2014. Since November, half of the processors supplied have also been a 14nm chip of the Broadwell and Skylake generation. A third chip generation at 14nm will be produced this year and Intel expects to be able to use its machines for five years, instead of the usual four years.

Intel has been trying to become less dependent on its PC chip sales for years. The Data Center Group is another important source of income and this business unit was able to realize an 11 percent increase in revenue compared to 2014: $16 billion. Intel expects a lot from the Internet of Things Group in the future, and its turnover increased by 7 percent to $2.3 billion. Software revenue fell by 2 percent, but memory sales saw Intel increase revenue by 21 percent.

Ultimately, Intel’s annual revenue fell 1 percent to $55.4 billion and profits fell 2 percent to $11.4 billion. Revenue in the last quarter rose 1 percent, but quarterly profit fell 1 percent to 3.6 billion dollars.