Intel shipped 46M tablet chips in 2014

Intel chief executive Brian Krzanich said in an earnings call today that the company shipped more than 46 million tablet chips in 2014, beating the company’s goal of 40 million.

For the year, mobile and communications revenue was only $202 million, and Intel is still losing a lot of money in that category, but Krzanich said he was pleased with the result. Intel is a bellwether for the PC market, and its fourth-quarter results are a good benchmark for what will happen in the computer market in 2015. The company is trying to make the transition to mobile, but progress is slow against rivals ARM and Qualcomm. And Intel continues to lose a lot of money in mobile.

Earlier today, the world’s biggest chip maker reported net income of $3.7 billion, or 74 cents a share, on revenues of $14.7 billion for the fourth quarter. Analysts expected Intel to report earnings-per-share of 66 cents on sales of $14.71 billion. A year ago, Intel reported earnings of $2.6 billion, or 51 cents a share, on $13.83 billion.

“If it is smart and connected, it’s best with Intel,” said Krzanich, in his remarks on the conference call with analysts.

Intel’s stock is down in after-hours trading. The stock is at $35.50 a share, down 1.91 percent, presumably because the first quarter outlook is relatively weak.

For the full year, Intel reported record net income of $11.7 billion, or $2.31 a share, on revenue of $55.9 billion, compared with net income of $9.6 billion, or $1.89 a share, on revenue of $52.7 billion a year earlier.

Intel’s stock rose 40 percent last year, the best since 2003. That was because the PC market didn’t fall apart. On top of that, Intel had a resurgence in chips for mobile devices, and it also launched a new line of chips for the Internet of Things. Intel sells roughly 90 percent of the chips used as processors in data centers. Still, Intel has been losing a lot of money in mobile chips.

At the recent 2015 International CES, Krzanich gave a keynote speech. He highlighted applications such as self-piloting drones, 3D printing, wearables, and a new chip dubbed Curie for the Internet of Things. Krzanich also announced that Intel would invest $300 million in diversity programs over the next five years. Intel also showed off tech with its new RealSense 3D depth cameras.

Intel said its PC Client group generated revenue of $8.9 billion, down 3 percent from the prior quarter and up 3 percent from a year ago. Data center group revenue was $4.1 billion, up 11 percent from the prior quarter and up 25 percent from a year earlier. Internet of Things revenue was $591 million, up 12 percent from the prior quarter and up 10 percent from a year ago.

Mobile and communications group revenue was negative $6 million in the fourth quarter. Software and services revenue was $557 million, flat from the prior quarter and down 6 percent from a year ago.

In the previous third quarter, Intel reported that its PC Client Group generated $9.2 billion in revenue, while the Data Center Group generated $3.7 billion in revenue. The Internet of Things contributed $530 million and the Mobile and Communications Group generated $1 million in revenue. The mobile group had operating losses of $1.04 billion in the third quarter.