Intel announced its preliminary fourth-quarter results today, showing that revenue will be down by nearly a quarter year on year.

The chip giant forecast fourth-quarter revenue of $8.2bn (£5.4bn), down 20 per cent from the third quarter and 23 per cent from a year ago.

The figures are even lower than Intel's previous prediction for the period published on 12 November of between $8.7bn and $9.3bn (£5.7bn and £6.1bn).

However, prior to this, the chip maker's prediction for the quarter was a much healthier $10.1bn to $10.9bn (£6.6bn to £7.1bn) in revenue.

Intel said in a statement that the $2bn (£1.3bn) shortfall from its original forecast was due to "weakness in end demand and inventory reductions by its customers in the global PC supply chain".

Spending is expected to be around $2.6bn (£1.7bn), lower than the previous prediction of approximately $2.8bn (£1.8bn), while restructuring and asset impairment charges are expected to be unchanged at approximately $250m (£164m).

Additional information will be provided by the company in a scheduled earnings announcement on 15 January.