by Calculated Risk on 1/07/2009 09:49:00 AM

Intel provides another example of the rapidly deteriorating business environment.

On Oct 14th, Intel projected revenue for Q4 2008:

Revenue: Between $10.1 billion and $10.9 billion.

Then Intel warned on November 12th and lowered their revenue projection to $8.7 billion to $9.3 billion:

Intel Corporation today announced that fourth-quarter business will be below the company's previous outlook. The company now expects fourth-quarter revenue to be $9 billion, plus or minus $300 million, lower than the previous expectation of between $10.1 billion and $10.9 billion. Revenue is being affected by significantly weaker than expected demand in all geographies and market segments. In addition, the PC supply chain is aggressively reducing component inventories.

And now today Intel reported a significant miss: Intel Announces Preliminary Fourth-Quarter Financial Information

Intel Corporation today announced preliminary fourth-quarter financial information with revenue of approximately $8.2 billion, down 20 percent sequentially and down 23 percent year over year. Revenue will be lower than the company's previous expectation, provided on Nov. 12, 2008, as a result of further weakness in end demand and inventory reductions by its customers in the global PC supply chain.

This is a pretty significant decline in revenues and suggests much lower business investment in equipment and software in Q4 2008.