Intel today gave a revenue outlook for 2015 that was above expectations saying that sales in 2015 will rise by a percentage in the "mid-single digits," as it pushes into markets outside personal computers. During its annual investor meeting today, Intel also announced that its board of directors has approved an increase in its cash dividend to 96 cents-per-share on an annual basis, a 6-cent increase, beginning with the dividend that will be declared in the first quarter of 2015.

"Today's dividend announcement reflects the board's confidence in Intel's strategy," said Intel Chairman Andy Bryant. "It also reflects the board's ongoing commitment to create value and return cash to Intel's stockholders."

Gross margin next year will be about 62 percent, the company said.

Intel CEO Brian Krzanich emphasized that Intel's highest shareholder value will come from a strategy to utilize the core assets that drive the company's PC and data center businesses to move into profitable, complementary market segments. Intel says its manufacturing capability, Intel architecture, and the use of shared IP are key elements of the growth strategy.

"The datacenter is Intel's next big business," Krzanich posited. "It's a $14 billion business and we will grow it at 15 percent rate."

Krzanich added IoT is Intel's next big business behind the datacenter, as evidenced by the company's decision to break IoT out into its own segment earlier this year.

Intel will also focus more on wearables. Krzanich noted the company would not pursue an Intel-branded device, but rather partnerships, like the one it has with Fossil, to handle a device's internal heavy lifting.

Integration continues to drive the company, especially in mobile. Krzanich used Intel's SoFIA product as an example, which is the company's chipset technology designed for entry-level smartphones in emerging markets. he said SoFIA was the first time Intel was able to synthesize its Atom core so that it was defined in the software, which he said allowed for more partner integrations.

Intel will continue to work with key parnters in foundry. Krzanich said in addition to Panasonic, foundry will open to more partners next year.