On The Call: AMD CEO feeling ‘pretty positive’ about PC market in 2010

On The Call: AMD CEO on PC industry’s health

SAN FRANCISCO — A question hanging over Advanced Micro Devices Inc. has been how much the company is benefiting from an overall strengthening in the computer market.

AMD reported Thursday after the market closed that a significant boost in sales of microprocessors and graphics chips helped boost its fourth-quarter revenue 42 percent, more than Wall Street expected.

On a conference call with analysts, AMD’s CEO, Dirk Meyer, discussed the personal computer market in the coming year.

QUESTION: There seems to be a thesis going around that PCs are very cyclical and that our cycle is peaking. Are you seeing any signs from your customers or end-market demand that would lead you guys to believe that we’re nearing a peak?

MEYER: We’re looking into next year, feeling pretty good about the opportunity for the PC market being (in) a growth year in 2010. You know, low double digits, 10, 11, 12 percent, something like that.

I would say our experience with Q4 confirms that:… End-user demand was strong. Certainly the holiday sales were strong, … even in eastern Europe, which was pretty weak through the whole of 2009…. (And) we don’t see any dangerous pile-up of inventories across the areas of the downstream supply chain. So, you know, based on all that, we’re sticking to feeling pretty positive about the prospect for unit growth next year.