Analyst says glut to blame for Intel woes

Chipmaker Intel Corp.'s news this week it expects to report worst-than-expected sales for the first quarter had more to do with inventory buildup than tailing demand for its processors, said Computer Intelligence analyst Aaron Goldberg. Goldberg said heavy PC product build-up and channel stuffing created an inventory "blip" that even price cuts couldn't rectify. "Soft demand is not accurate, nor the complete story," Goldberg said. "Looking at the demand, it's easy to see that customer buying is still up, but inventory is up too, and there isn't enough demand uptick to offset the huge price declines. This is what caused the shortfall."