Intel Corporation (INTC): This Will Be Important To Watch

Arguments relating to the death of the PC have become commonplace in today’s tech circles. In addition to PC shipments declining in an ever-so-fast fashion, stocks in the PC sector have received a thorough pounding over the past few years. One such stock is Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC).

For the past several years, the chip maker has been shadowed by relentless bears. In the wake of yet another non-moving quarter that was characterized by further declines in sales, doomsayers opined that Intel’s only way out of the gutter was a reinvention, begging the question; how soon will this reinvention come?

I am inclined to believe that Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC)’s reinvention is ever nearer. The chip maker has a strategy that will take the market by surprise.

‘Haswell’ to offset loss brought about by tablets

Tablets remain a thorn in the PC sector’s side. The witnessed sequential and year-over-year declines in PC shipments are attributable to consumers’ current preference toward tablets. Research firm IDC actually contends that the global shipment of PCs plummeted 14% in the first three months of the year, signaling the sharpest plunge in over a decade.

The continued viral growth of the tablet sector, along with other equally compelling factors, has forced Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) to slash the current quarter’s revenue forecast by as much as 8%.

Moving forward, tablets are likely to continue gnawing into PC sales. This is especially so if you consider how Android is gaining market share. The impetus behind the tablet’s uptrend has in-arguably been Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s Android OS. Unlike its iOS counterparts, a good number of Android-powered tablets are within the $100 to $200 price range.

These price incentives have been instrumental in key markets such as China and other emerging yet equally potent markets, including Brazil and India. Last year, Android’s growth outpaced the sector’s overall growth, coming in at a mind-boggling 175%, compared with the sector’s equally huge 117% growth.

Research firm Strategy Analytics actually believes that Android tablets are closing the gap on Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s iPad. It argues that 17.6 million Android tablets were shipped during the first three months of the year, up from 6.4 million units a year earlier. It also ventures that Android’s market share as of this writing is 43.4%, up from 34.3% a year earlier.