Microprocessor shipment rise down to Intel?

Shipments of PC microprocessors experienced a significant rise this quarter, according to a report from IDC.

Worldwide shipments rose 10.1 per cent compared to a fall of 10.9 per cent in the previous quarter. Processor revenues also jumped by 7.9 per cent.

However, a director at IDC put this down to "inventory refreshes" from Intel and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) rather than a significant demand for PCs returning.

Shane Rau, director of semiconductors in IDC's personal computing research arm, pointed to Intel's massive revenue growth in the Asia/Pacific market and the rise of its processor shipments, notably the 34 per cent rise of Atom shipments for netbooks.

He concluded that it wasn't a rise in demand for PCs but instead just the market being "balanced out due to Intel driving Atom processors into original design manufacturers (ODMs) who manufacture the systems, particularly in China and Taiwan."

If this conclusion is correct, the third quarter of 2009 is looking less than positive. The OEMs and ODMs have already refreshed their inventories so won't be looking to do so again in the next three months.

"We can only rely on what actual end demand really is, and that means we have to be cautious not to be over-exuberant that, say, the traditional back-to-school PC buying season will materialise into a bullish second half," Rau said. "It won't."