Intel Corp (www.intel.com), the world’s largest manufacturer of semiconductors, has announced that it is to cut 12,000 jobs — 11% of its workforce — reflecting the fact that the personal-computer market is experiencing a fifth year of decline.

The company, which has its headquarters in Santa Clara, California, is to shift its focus to higher-growth areas, such as chips for data-centre machines and connected devices.

Intel also announced a second-quarter sales forecast that was below analysts’ estimates. Its revenues will be about $13.5 billion, the company said in a statement.

That compares with an average analyst estimate of $14.2 billion, according to data compiled by the Bloomberg news organisation. Shipments of PCs — a market that provides Intel with almost 60% of its sales — fell to their lowest level in a decade in the first three months of 2016.

Kim Forrest, a senior equity analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group (www.fortpittcapital.com), which owns Intel stock, said: “The PC market faces challenges. We were believers at some point that mobile devices would have to be like mini-PCs to get real work done, but that did not prove to be the case.”