Intel backs in profit

Chip maker Intel has seen fourth quarter profit soar as the personal computer market started shrugging off the effects of the recession. Computer orders were up sharply during the quarter, which was good news for Intel, which dominates the personal computer microchip. Sales climbed 29 % to $10.6 bn (£6.5 bn), beating analysts' outlook of $10.2 bn. Investors look to the chip maker's earnings as a barometer of business and consumer demand in the US economy. 'Positive' Intel is the first major technology company to report its results. Its net income in the three months to 26 December was $2.3 bn , compared with net income of $234 m a year before. "It's definitely positive for the overall tech market," said David Kanter, analyst at Real World Technologies. "Intel to a large extent tells you the health of the PC and computer market and that drives a tremendous amount of other activity including analogue semiconductors, and other people who fit into that ecosystem that are slightly less integral and more of a complement to the PC chip." Chip makers are coming out of the industry's worst downturn in decades and are expected to benefit from increased technology spend by large firms in 2010.