The chips are down for Intel as it prepares itself for a year of upheaval

Intel posted a $16.6bn (€16bn) quarterly loss last October, the biggest in its illustrious history. Soon afterwards the company was thrown off the Dow Jones Industrial Average, with its share price down by 60pc for the year.

To rub salt in the wound, Intel was replaced on that index of 30 blue-chip firms by Nvidia, the rival that has been eating its lunch..