Intel could be in the process of cutting off one-tenth of its workforce this year according to "Intel insiders" as reported by The Oregonian. The chipmaker is expected to make public its quarterly financial figures next week, which should reveal all details and either confirm or bust the current rumblings of more layoffs. Intel had already cut 1100 of its employees in the U.S. alone last year out of a worldwide total of about 107000 employees.
The PC market constitutes more than 60 percent of Intel's income, though this has been steadily shrinking for years. The company reported declining numbers for 2015 as consumers continue to hold off on replacing older PCs or move onto mobile smartphone and tablet solutions where Intel has less of a presence. Competition is much more varied in the tablet and smartphone markets where companies like Qualcomm, Apple, Samsung, and MediaTek each offer their own series of SoCs based on ARM Cortex architectures.
The strong U.S. Dollar is also causing component prices to rise and subsequently hinder worldwide demand for PCs, further denting Intel's bottom line. Intel focused on the new Atom CPUs last week at its developer conference in Shenzhen, China.