Intel looks to $6.8bn for first quarter

Intel predicts that slightly higher sales of its PC and server processors will be offset by slightly lower sales of communications processors in the first quarter.

Q1 revenue should come in between $6.6bn and $6.8bn, Intel said. That is a narrower range than given during the company's fourth-quarter earnings call in January. At that time, Intel had predicted revenue between $6.5bn and $7bn.

The communications business has been hurt by slower-than-expected flash memory sales, which has also slightly lowered the company's expected gross margins due to excess inventory. Increased demand for flash memory products in the fourth quarter led Intel to announce in November that it would raise flash memory prices in January