intel-logoIntel has announced a major corporate restructuring that will see 11 percent of its workforce laid off as the company intensifies its focus on its data center and smart connected computing businesses.

The move is being billed as a profitable and efficient evolution of the company away from its traditional PC sector base toward more high-growth areas, broadly defined as its cloud-powering hardware and Internet of Things businesses. These areas reportedly made Intel $2.2 billion in revenue growth last year, making up 40 percent of its operating profit and offsetting its decline in the PC market.

Combined with its gaming, home gateway, memory and connectivity businesses, the initiative will fuel a "virtuous cycle of growth", said Intel, but the move comes at the cost of up to 12,000 jobs globally. The company said the layoffs will be completed by mid-2017 through a combination of voluntary and involuntary departures as it re-evaluates its programs and consolidates its sites worldwide.

Intel forecasts that the initiative will deliver $750 million in savings in 2016 and annual run rate savings of $1.4 billion by the middle of the following year.

While Intel's press release makes no mention of its latest microprocessor uptake in the PC market, the company did recently confirm the end of its highly successful decade-long "tick-tock" strategy of annually delivering new processors, after chip updates stretched beyond the yearly cycle in recent generations and began affecting Apple's product launch cycles. The launch of Intel's Kaby Lake 14-nm microarchitecture was delayed to the second half of 2016 after Skylake suffered similar setbacks in 2015.

Semiconductor foundries have had increasingly tough times creating smaller process nodes as fabrication of smaller transistors has become increasingly expensive and complex. Intel has said it will now move to a new "Process-Architecture-Optimization" model for its current 14-nm node and next-generation 10-nm node family of chips.

Tag: Intel

Top Rated Comments

NT1440 Avatar
117 months ago
Yikes. Hopefully these people get a humane severance package.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
rdowns Avatar
117 months ago
All the while lobbying for more foreign workers on H1-B visas. Smh.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BeefCake 15 Avatar
117 months ago
Intel was strong ARMed to make that decision:p
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Glassed Silver Avatar
117 months ago
Intel is paying the price for the strategic mistake to ignore the smartphone and tablet markets.
*buzzer sound*

Their workforce is paying for it.

Glassed Silver:mac
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
now i see it Avatar
117 months ago
For a gigantic swath of the world's population, the only computer they really now use is their smart phone.

The motto has changed.
No longer is it "Intel Inside"
It's now "Arm Inside"
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Bubba Satori Avatar
117 months ago
It is the time Earth can no longer sustain over 7 billion people?
Huh? I'm missing the connection to the story.
[doublepost=1461160487][/doublepost]
As tough as it is when people lose jobs, this is a great example of why our society doesn't work.

Firstly, Intel cut these jobs because the tick tock schedule no longer increases profit. They're still profitable just not as much. With the increase of computing power, Intel could produce chips that blow away what we're currently using. However this doesn't align with manufacturers product offerings, giving consumers enough time to recycle their products. Software, and consumer purchases operate at a slower pace now relative to hardware advances.

Secondly, due to the first, our world stinks. We continue to operate in a way to maximize profits and shareholder earnings versus advancing and changing how we do things. People lose jobs, aren't happy, and our home is being turned into a litter box.
Why do millions keep flocking to it if it's so terrible?
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

Alleged iOS 19 Icons Front Page Tech

iOS 19 Leak Reveals Alleged New Design With Rounder App Icons, Floating Tab Bar, and More

Monday April 7, 2025 3:13 pm PDT by
YouTube channel Front Page Tech is back today with another video that provides a closer look at iOS 19's alleged design changes. The video contains re-created renders of iOS 19, which are allegedly based on real footage of the software update, provided by sources within Apple. Overall, iOS 19 is expected to have a more glass-like, visionOS-inspired design, with added translucency for user...
iPhone 17 Pro 3 4ths Perspective Aluminum Camera Module 1

iPhone 17 Pro's New Rear Camera Bar 'Same Color As Rest of Device'

Monday April 7, 2025 2:09 am PDT by
Apple's upcoming iPhone 17 Pro models will feature a redesigned rear camera panel that spans the width of the device, but it will be the same color as the iPhone itself, rather than being part of a two-tone design. That's according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Writing in his latest Power On newsletter, the reporter says the iPhone 17 Pro won't have a two-toned back, as some renders have...
iphone 16 pro colors 1

Is Now the Time to Upgrade Apple Devices Before Tariffs Lead to Price Increases?

Friday April 4, 2025 3:41 pm PDT by
If you have an older Apple device that you've been considering upgrading, you're probably wondering how the newly announced tariffs might impact prices going forward, and whether it's worth buying now before there's a price hike. Given analyst and economist responses to the tariffs, market panic, and Trump's stance on the current financial chaos, the answer is that making a purchase...
iphone x front back

Apple Planning 'Bold' New 20th Anniversary Design for 2027 iPhone Pro

Monday April 7, 2025 2:46 am PDT by
Apple is preparing a "major shake-up" for the iPhone's 20th anniversary in 2027, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. iPhone X released in 2017 for 10th anniversary Writing in his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman says that Apple plans to launch a foldable iPhone alongside a "bold" new iPhone Pro model that makes more extensive use of glass. Could this mean Apple plans to realize former...
iOS 19 Mock WWDC25 Feature

iOS 19 Expected to Run on These iPhones

Monday March 31, 2025 5:28 pm PDT by
iOS 19 will not be available on the iPhone XR, iPhone XS, or the iPhone XS Max, according a private account on social media site X that has accurately provided information on device compatibility in the past. The iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max all have an A12 Bionic chip, so it looks like iOS 19 will discontinue support for that chip. All other iPhones that run iOS 18 are expected...
iPhone Assembly

Trump Believes Apple Could Manufacture iPhones in the U.S.

Tuesday April 8, 2025 12:08 pm PDT by
U.S. President Donald Trump "absolutely" believes that Apple could manufacture its iPhones and other devices in the United States, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said today during a media briefing. Leavitt was asked whether Trump thought that iPhone manufacturing is the kind of technology that could move to the U.S. "Absolutely, he believes we have the labor, we have the workforce, we have ...
iPhone 17 Pro 3 4ths Perspective Aluminum Camera Module 1

5 Biggest Changes Rumored for iPhone 17 Pro

Tuesday April 8, 2025 2:38 am PDT by
Later this year, Apple will introduce the iPhone 17 series, which includes the iPhone 17 Pro and the iPhone 17 Pro Max, two new high-end flagship devices that will be sold alongside the regular iPhone 17 and an all-new ultra-thin iPhone 17 Air. If you have been holding out for the iPhone 17 Pro or its bigger sibling, here are five of the biggest changes, informed by the latest reports and...