Intel to remain profitable despite worst recession in 30 years: CEO

Intel will remain profitable despite the worst recession to hit the information technology sector in 30 years, according to its chief executive Craig Barrett.

He described the current recession as "deeper and stronger than the nine-and-a-half previous ones I have gone through with Intel since 1974. I call this one a half because we're going down and we haven't come back yet. It is probably the most dramatic recession I've seen for the last 30 years, (but) not the worst one for Intel," which he said was in 1985.

Barrett attributed the recession to a "synchronised slow-down of the world's established economies.

"We're (also) still experiencing the hangover of the dot.com explosion and meltdown," as well as the fallout of the "Y2K investment problem", he said.

"Throughout this recession, we've had something like a 20% decrease in our revenue but we are still a profitable company and we are still able to invest over $4bn in research and development. "We are still able to afford to invest for the future," he said.

Intel posted profits of $446m in the second quarter of 2002. In 2001, it recorded net revenues of $26.5bn and profits of $3.6bn. It has committed €4bn to research and development centres in Europe in 2002.