Intel does not have a new CEO, but 2018 was a “truly remarkable year for a remarkable company,” according to its acting CEO, CFO Bob Swan.
During the company’s earnings call on Thursday to discuss fourth-quarter results, Swan took a minute to address what he expects was a top-of-mind question: the status of Intel’s CEO search.
“The board continues to evaluate candidates for what I believe is the biggest and best open job on the planet,” he said. “They are proceeding with a sense of urgency while also ensuring that they make the right choice for this great company.”
Swan didn’t go into any further details or give a time when a replacement can be expected. It’s been seven months since former CEO Brian Krzanich was forced out in June for having a past relationship with a subordinate.
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Meanwhile, Intel's shares fell on Thursday after the company posted earnings that missed revenue expectations and issued weaker-than-expected guidance. Bloomberg reported that its forecasts for 2019 sent a signal to investors that a torrent of spending on data centers, which has nourished sales and earnings growth for years, is beginning to dry up.
Intel said its full-year revenue grew 13% and crossed the $70 billion mark for the first time, setting an all-time revenue record for the third consecutive year. Its data center, IoT, programmable solutions, memory, Mobileye and modem businesses each set an all-time full-year revenue record.
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At the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this month, Intel unveiled a new 10-nanometer-based network system on chip, code-named Snow Ridge, developed specifically for 5G wireless access and edge computing. Swan said Snow Ridge will bring Intel architecture into wireless access base stations and allow more computing functions to be distributed out at the edge of the network.
“We expect to be in production on Snow Ridge in the second half of this year, which is also when we'll deliver our first 5G modem, the Intel XMN 8165 5G,” he said.
Intel's fourth-quarter Internet of Things Group (IOTG) revenue declined 7% year over year. However, it said that excluding Wind River, which Intel divested in the second quarter, fourth-quarter IOTG revenue was up 4% year over year despite supply tightness.