Intel, which employs about 3,300 staff in the Republic, said this morning it expects modest growth in third-quarter earnings over the preceding quarter.
The company chief executive officer, Mr Craig Barrett gave his assessment of the market for chips while attending a hi-tech conference in Malaysia.
"We see modest growth in the third quarter over the second quarter," Barrett said, "but we haven't seen much improvement in the computing environment because companies are not investing. When it turns around will be when companies start reinvesting, I'm not forecasting when that will happen".
Earlier this month, Intel said it expected third-quarter revenues would be $6.9 billion, compared with an earlier forecast of $6.3 billion. Intel last month posted a net income of $446 million for the second quarter, at the lower end of market expectations.
The company also said it would cut 4,000 jobs or nearly 5 per cent of its workforce.