otellini

In April, Mr. Otellini said demand for its computer chips appeared to have 'bottomed out' in the first quarter.

What you see playing out in the marketplace today is the result of turning the wheel many years ago, says an ebullient Mr Otellini.

The severity of the economic decline prompted Mr. Otellini to make a rare speech tied to investing in the United States, he said.

Intel's orders and billing patterns so far in the second quarter have been slightly better than expected, Otellini said this week.

"I wanted Paul to see in my eyes that I would be back, " he says of Otellini.

"That was, in hindsight, perhaps the wrong partner to have picked, " Intel CEO Paul Otellini told investors back in May.

Otellini said that Intel is one of the few companies that has committed to a next-generation 22-nanometer manufacturing process.

Within days, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel was on the phone with Otellini offering up R&D and investment tax credits.

After a 20-minute conversation, Otellini was seen walking away, smiling and shaking his head in what looked like disbelief.

Intel Chief Executive Paul Otellini said in a recent interview that netbook growth is now 'sloping off. '

Intel's Mr. Otellini said computer makers ordered heavily, timing their purchases to take advantage of new Intel chip models.

"I need to be like that, " he told Otellini when he played this video for his boss.

Mr Otellini reported strength in the US and Asia-Pacific markets, particularly China, helped there by a government stimulus programme.

Clearly, Otellini would have preferred that Nokia continue to develop Meego with Intel who now must forge on alone with the mobile platform.

Otellini said, were in sales activities in emerging economies and designing chips for laptop computers and other mobile products.

Mr Otellini's response to all of these challenges is the "right-hand turn" .

All this may explain why Mr Otellini is leaving now.

"I thought it was good to give Sean a gigantic challenge, " Otellini explains in all seriousness.

Compared with his gruff and outgoing predecessor Craig Barrett, Mr Otellini seems shy, sensitive and thoughtful.

It was perhaps the worst year for Intel since 1974, when Mr Otellini, now 56, joined the company.

"We believe in the company and in this country, " Mr. Otellini said.

Investors should consider how they would feel were Mr Otellini to greet them at a stockholders' meeting lighting cigars with $100 bills.

'We are still in the early phase of an enterprise upgrade cycle, ' said Mr. Otellini.

Mr. Otellini noted that the market-research firm Gartner Inc. predicts personal-computer unit sales will decline about 10% this year.

The pace was set more than 40 years ago by Gordon Moore, one of Mr Otellini's predecessors as chief executive of Intel.

Mr Otellini carried out the biggest review of the company in more than 20 years.

There will be no budget for merit pay or promotions, and Intel will only refill vacant jobs on a selective basis, Otellini said in the memo.

"The pace of the revenue decline in the quarter was dramatic, " Mr. Otellini said last week.

According to Otellini, Intel is hard at work at developing the lower-wattage processors that will enable this new breed of PCs.

Otellini added that Gartner's forecast of a PC sales decline between 9 and 10 percent in 2009 may be too pessimistic.

The consumer desktop market will be transitioning to iMac-style all-in-one systems, Otellini said.

Mr Otellini is speaking at Intel's Santa Clara headquarters in Silicon Valley.

"We are very pleased at the industry response" to the Ultrabook, Otellini said.

Mr Otellini cannot, and must find new sources of growth, in the PC market and beyond it.

Maloney has held a series of positions at Intel and at times has been mentioned as a possible successor to Chief Executive Paul Otellini.

"You sit down at your PC, of course, " Gates and Otellini wrote.

Mr Otellini has a corner cubicle next to the windows.

That points the way to the second part of Mr Otellini's plan: "platformisation" .