Intel rakes in record profit of $3.4 bn in Q4 2010

Bolstered by increased demand from enterprises, Intel's profit surged 48 per cent to a record of $3.4 billion for the three months ended December 2010.

In the year-ago period, the global chip maker had a profit of $2.3 billion.

"2010 was the best year in Intel's history. We believe that 2011 will be even better," Intel President and CEO Paul Otellini said.

Intel's huge fourth-quarter profit came on record revenues of $11.5 billion.

"PC client group revenue flat, data center group revenue up 15 per cent, other Intel architecture group flat and Intel Atom microprocessor and chipset revenue of  $391 million flat, all sequentially," Intel said in a statement on Thursday.

Even though, revenues from consumer PC was almost flat, the sluggishness was mostly offset by higher demand from businesses.

The fourth quarter also saw a net gain of $140 million from equity investments and interest.

For the full year, the company reported a profit of $11.7 billion on revenues of $43.6 billion.

Intel said that it expects revenues of $11.5 billion -- which could be plus or minus $400 million -- in the first quarter of 2011.