Intel has announced preliminary financial results for the fourth quarter, and its revenue apparently fell considerably short of the revised estimate it published in November. Intel now says Q4 sales worked out to $8.2 billion, well below the revised estimate of $9 billion and the original forecast of $10.1-10.9 billion. The new figure also represents a 20% sequential drop and 23% year-over-year decrease. If you'd rather not do the math in your head, Intel posted revenue of $10.3 billion in the third quarter, and it raked in the tidy sum of $10.7 billion in Q4 2007-both record-breaking figures. Intel blames the worse-than-expected numbers on "further weakness in end demand and inventory reductions by its customers in the global PC supply chain." The company will officially report fourth quarter earnings on January 15th. Wel, the economy is doing poorly, so this kind of news is expected. I'm more curious to hear which companies can still maintain growth during this time.