Intel shares slump amid possible exit from chip-manufacturing if it fails to secure major customer

Shares fell 8% on the news

The struggling company has significant operations in Ireland mainly focused on its facility in Leixlip, Co Kildare.

Intel shares sank 8% on Friday after the company warned of exiting chip manufacturing if it fails to secure a major customer, a potentially drastic move by the new chief executive to cut spending and revive the struggling American company.

Lip-Bu Tan said he would further shrink Intel's workforce, halt work on two plants in Europe and slow another in Ohio, binning his ousted predecessor’s strategy that relied on building costly facilities to restore its manufacturing edge.