Revenue for the quarter, ended March 28, was US$7.1 billion, down 26 percent from the first quarter of 2008 but still slightly ahead of analyst estimates, according to Thomson Reuters.

Net income was $647 million, down 55 percent year-over-year, with earnings per share of $0.11. That too was ahead of expectations; analysts had predicted earnings of just $0.03 per share. Intel said some restructuring and asset impairment charges had been lower than expected.

After riding a surge in popularity of netbooks, Intel saw revenue from its Atom microprocessors and chipsets drop sequentially. Atom sales fell 27 percent during the quarter to $219 million, Intel said.