As Intel attempts to cut costs, claw back market share position and recover from a slump in earnings, it plans to axe thousands of jobs.

The company currently has around 110,000 employees and the reduction in its workforce is believed to be announced as soon as this week, Bloomberg reported citing people familiar with the matter.

Intel reduced its workforce by about 5 per cent in 2023 to 124,800 by the year’s end after announcing job cuts beginning in October 2022.

The company will report its second-quarter earnings on Thursday. It also has slowed spending and expects cost reductions to save as much as A$15.31 billion by 2025.

Where Intel is believed to be spending heavily on is research and development aimed at improving its technology and also bringing it back into the position of a force to reckon with in the semiconductor industry.

Intel Core 14th Gen Desktop Processors launching Oct. 16, 2023, feature six new unlocked desktop CPUs for enthusiasts: i9-14900K/KF, i7-14700K/KF and i5-14600K/KF. (Credit: Intel Corporation)

Intel recently admitting instability issues with its latest 13th-gen and 14th-gen desktop CPUs hasn’t helped its cause. Thomas Hannaford, Intel’s communications manager, blamed it on an error in the microcode that requests incorrect voltage numbers, leading to instability in the processor.

Intel’s rivals such as Advanced Micro Devices are increasingly gaining market share. AMD’s Ryzen 9000 CPUs will go on sale next month.

Chipmakers such as Nvidia have also leaped ahead while developing semiconductors meant to cater to AI-related tasks.

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chips have been used by several manufacturers in their Copilot+ PCs which are entering the market now. Intel has revealed details regarding its latest Lunar Lake processor, which is set to power laptops by the end of the year.

Lunar Lake will be an on-system chip that Intel claims has 14 per cent faster CPU performance at the same clock speed as Intel’s Meteor Lake, as well as a 50 per cent boost in graphics performance, and up to 60 per cent better battery life.

Analysts estimate that Intel’s total sales will increase 3 per cent for the full year to A$85.73 billion, its first annual revenue rise since 2021.