HPQ passes Dell as Intel's largest global customer

Posted Feb 24th 2009 1:50PM by Brian White
Filed under: Dell (DELL), Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), Intel (INTC)

Dell, Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) is no longer Intel Corp.'s (NASDAQ: INTC) largest worldwide customer. As of the end of 2008, competitor Hewlett-Packard Corp. (NYSE: HPQ) stole that crown away from Round Rock, Tx.-based Dell as the company continued hammering the competition in the retail PC business.

Dell, which has been a longtime fan of Intel, just recently began offering computer systems powered by Intel competitor Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NYSE: AMD) after customers hounded the computer maker for more choices. Add to that the resurgence of Hewlett-Packard under CEO Mark Hurd and it's no surprise that Intel has a new best friend in town.

HP gobbled up 20% of Intel's business in 2008, up from 17% the prior year. At the same time, Dell nabbed 18% if Intel's business for both 2007 and 2008. With 73% of Intel's revenue going to its microprocessor unit sales, grabbing 20% of that business is no mean feat. Now, the trick for HP will be to see if it can keep and even grow the level of business it gives Intel.

Tags: Dell, Hewlett-Packard, HPQ, Inc., INTC, Intel, Intel chips, IntelChips, inthenews