Intel announced some excellent financial numbers for the fourth quarter of 2011 on Thursday. During the PC processor company"s financial conference call with analysts, Intel CEO Paul Otellini talked about several subjects, including a hint about when we might see products based on Windows 8 in store shelves.
News.com reports that during the call Otellini started talking about the tablet market and how Android-based tablets, overall, had not been as competitive as Apple"s iPad. He said:
Tablets are a little bit about hardware and an awful lot about software. Until you get to Ice Cream Sandwich, the offering isn"t as powerful as with what"s out there with Apple. As Ice Cream Sandwich tablets start shipping, you"ll begin to see a little bit better receptivity...everything got a little bit better with ICS.
Then Otellini dropped his Windows 8 hint, saying, "The other part of that test [of competing with iPad] of course is the Windows 8 tablets that are being queued up for production."
That comment sounded like tablets that will run Microsoft"s next operating system are getting ready to be mass produced, as least as far as Otellini knows. He also stated, "With the silicon integration capability we have...to be able to drive the bill of materials cost down and integration up in the tablet space which I think is going to be a sweet spot for Intel."