Investors leery of the weakened state of the global computer market breathed a sigh of relief Tuesday after Intel announced its third-quarter results.

Net income rose 17 percent and revenue rose 28 percent, beating Wall Street analyst targets, the Associated Press reported.

Company officials said Intel set new records for microprocessor units shipped, EPS, earnings and revenue, which was up 28 percent year-over-year.  The world’s largest chipmaker reported revenues of $14.2 billion. Intel President and CEO Paul Otellini credited stronger sales of processors for laptop PCs and servers.

“Intel delivered record-setting results again in Q3, surpassing $14 billion in revenue for the first time, driven largely by double-digit unit growth in notebook PCs,” Otellini said in a statement. “We also saw continued strength in the data center fueled by the ongoing growth of mobile and cloud computing.”

Intel said that its PC Client Group revenue was $9.4 billion, up 22 percent year-over-year and its Data Center Group revenue was $2.5 billion, up 15 percent year-over-year.  McAfee Inc. and Intel Mobile Communications contributed revenue of $1.1 billion. In addition, the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company’s board of directors also voted to boost its stock buyback program by $10 billion.

However, even though Intel’s numbers show signs of encouragement, the Associated Press said “they’re unlikely to reflect a meaningful change in the underlying dynamics that threaten to keep computer demand sluggish into the foreseeable future.”

In related news, studies released by two independent research firms show that Hewlett-Packard holds the No. 1 position terms of PC market share, TechZone360 reported. Chinese computer maker Lenovo moved up the ranks to become the world’s second largest PC maker and Dell dropped from second to third place, according to figures released for the third quarter by Gartner and International Data Corporation.

PCs have taken a backseat to a range of other devices competing for shrinking consumer and business budgets with media tablets and other devices emerging and gaining traction, according to Jay Chou, senior research analyst with IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker.

And while tablets are not expected to replace the PC, they are certainly a “distraction,” said Loren Loverde, IDC vice president of Worldwide Consumer Device Trackers.