Sales of Pentium processors boosted Intel Corp’s third quarter profits to record levels, as users are moving rapidly to the new generation of high performance Pentium processor-based systems, said chief execuitve Andy Grove. In the third quarter, we passed a milestone as Pentium processor unit shipments exceeded the 80486 chip for the first time, Grove added. The company anticipates a rise in fourth quarter revenues, but a fall in margins as personal computer manufacturers’ inventory runs low. Intel has been stocking up on motherboards to go with the Pentiums in order to meet the expected demand. The company said it had also brought forward price reductions for the Pentiums from November 1 to this month to meet the Christmas rush head-on. Sales grew in the US, Europe and Japan but they declined in the rest of Asia. During the quarter the company repurchased a total of 4.9m shares of its common stock at a cost of $321m, under an ongoing stock repurchase programme. Intel has repurchased 67.1m shares at a total cost of $2,100m since the programme began back in 1990.
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