Intel Corp, the world's biggest chip maker, has given an optimistic sales forecast for this quarter, signaling that demand for electronics is holding up better than analysts predicted.

Third-quarter sales will be US$10 billion to US$10.6 billion, California-based Intel said on Tuesday. That compares with an average prediction of US$10 billion in a Bloomberg News survey.

Computer processor sales remain strong worldwide, with no signs of the United States economy sapping demand, Chief Financial Officer Stacy Smith said.

Even if the domestic market slumps, overseas orders should be able to fuel growth, said Graham Tanaka, president of New York-based Tanaka Capital Management.

"Slowing domestic growth doesn't mean Intel will slow dramatically - it's being offset by growth in Asia," Tanaka said in an interview with Bloomberg Radio. "Growth in China, in India, in Southeast Asia was very strong."

The European Union is preparing new antitrust charges, broadening an earlier probe of Intel's marketing and sales systems, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday, citing people familiar with the matter. The charges claim that Intel has given big retailers incentives not to sell computers using chips from competitor Advanced Micro Devices Inc, the newspaper said.

Intel's European head, Jeff Clark, said in a Bloomberg Television interview yesterday that he wasn't aware of any new charges being prepared by the EU.

Intel rose 2 percent to US$21.13 in German trading yesterday and has lost 22 percent this year.

(Shanghai Daily July 17, 2008)