Intel Profits Plummet

Chip maker Intel has reported that its profits tumbled by 90% in the last quarter of 2008.

The giant chip maker Intel is blaming slow spending on computers for the fact that its profits tumbled precipitously in the last quarter of 2008. The company saw a 90% fall, going from a profit of $2.3 billion all the way down to $234 million.

Earlier this month Intel had warned of lower sales, and they have indeed slumped 23% to $8.2bn, the BBC reports. It also said it expects sales of just $7bn billion in the first quarter of 2009.

Although Intel’s news wasn’t good, it still helped boost its share price 2.1% in after-hours trading, simply because it wasn’t as bad as most people feared. Part of the profit drop was due to Intel writing down a $1bn investment in Clearwire Corp., which is working on a new type of wireless broadband that Intel is building into its chips.