Intel faces a grave threat to its very existence.

The company that manufactures the processors for about 80 percent of the world’s computers faces what some industry observers and leaders call the post-PC age.

With the PC industry expected to see falling sales levels for the short and long terms, Intel is pressed into finding other markets for its chips.

Or suffer severe threats to its bottom line.

The smartphone market is forecast to grow at least 50 percent year over year. The tablet market is also expected to outsell PCs by a huge margin.

That is why the company has developed chips designed for mobile devices, hybrid tablets, and ultrabooks.

These are confusing times. Like Microsoft, its partner in the fast-shrinking Wintel empire, Intel needs to reform how it does business. And it has to do it fast.

Facebook Search

Much have been written about Google’s social media projects, its efforts to make a dent on Facebook’s tight hold on the apex of the social networking market.

Obviously, Google does not see Facebook as a friend.

Recently, Facebook said it would like to return the favor.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg his company at looking at the possibility of going into the online search market, Google’s bread-and-butter business.

While Zuckerberg’s idea is not exactly original — there have been several attempts to add social media into the online search mix, such as Google’s Google+ initiative and Microsoft’s combination of Facebook elements into Bing results — it still would be innovative in a way as it does it the other way around.

It adds search to social media.

Apparently, market analysts are convinced that Facebook is positioned to compete strongly for shares of the online search market. Facebook’s collections of data, personal and company information, as well as pages, ads, and likes, will enable it to offer interesting and very much adequate search results.

Finally, some market analysts believe, Google has a worthy opponent in the online search market.

U.S. Hits AU Optronics Hard

After a federal jury found AU Optronics guilty of price fixing, the U.S. Department of Justice wants some serious sanctions against the Taiwan-based LCD screen manufacturer.

Federal prosecutors are demanding at least $1 billion in fines and at least 10 years in prison each for former AU Optronics executives Hsuan Bin Chen and Hui Hsiung.

The original complaint alleged that the company conspired with other LCD manufacturers, including Samsung and Sharp. The other companies agreed to settle the case out of court.

Meanwhile, AU Optronics’ lawyers are asking the court to reduce the fine to $285 million and reduce the prison sentences.

When will people learn that crime does not pay, most of the time, especially when you’re not committing it in a banana republic?

That’s all for the meantime, folks. Join me again next time as we keep on watching IT.