Chipzilla has stolen a march on any rumour merchants who might think the outfit might want to buy HP's hardware business. We are not sure if anyone had gotten around to starting such a rumour yet, but Intel wants to make it is clear it is not interested.

Speaking to the media at the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) 2011 here, Intel President and CEO Paul Otellini said Intel did not want to compete with its own customers and it was happy being a chip-maker. So it was a big “No, thanks," from Intel.

Otellini added that if HP goes for a spin-off of its PC business it would not change much in the IT industry. “We like where we are in the ecosystem. We are a silicon-maker. As for competing with our customers, I don't see us going there," he said.