Consumer appetite for portable devices such as laptops and netbooks helped chipmaker Intel achieve one of its most profitable financial quarters ever in the closing months of 2010, the company revealed yesterday.

The company saw net income for its fourth quarter jump 875% to $2.3 billion, while revenue rose 28% year on year to $10.6 billion.

Intel’s performance is seen as a lead indicator for financial fortunes of the whole IT industry, and yesterday’s news was welcomed by investment analysts as a positive sign.

However, the company’s results made it clear that business IT spending has yet to recover from the downturn. “This was not a robust year for corporate purchases,” said CEO Paul Ottellini in a conference call for investment analysts. He said the company expects to see only a “modest recovery of corporate purchases of PCs” in 2010.