Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger has announced his retirement from the US chipmaker after less than four years in the role, with local media reporting he was forced out by the company’s board due to a lack of confidence in his vision to turnaround the once-dominant firm.

Intel confirmed Gelsinger’s retirement on Tuesday and announced he had also stepped down from the company’s board of directors, following “a distinguished 40-plus-year career”.

Intel’s board reportedly gave Gelsinger the choice of retiring or being removed from the company, according to Bloomberg and The New York Times, as his plan to claim back market share from competitors such as Nvidia was not working quickly enough.

Intel’s stock price has dropped almost 50 per cent in the past 12 months, and the company announced plans in August to shed around 15,000 jobs after “disappointing” financial results.

The company reported a $25.6 billion ($US16.6 billion) loss in Q3 of this year as it carried out restructuring, down from a loss of $2.5 billion ($US1.6 billion) in the previous quarter.

Gelsinger, who began his career with Intel in 1979 and became CEO in 2021 after a decade leading software maker VMWare, said leading Intel had been “the honor of my lifetime”.

“Today is, of course, bittersweet as this company has been my life for the bulk of my working career,” he said in a statement.

“I can look back with pride at all that we have accomplished together.

“It has been a challenging year for all of us as we have made tough but necessary decisions to position Intel for the current market dynamics.

“I am forever grateful for the many colleagues around the world who I have worked with as part of the Intel family.”

Intel named senior executives David Zinsner and Michelle Johnston Holthaus as interim co-CEOs while it searched for a new chief executive.

Frank Yeary, the independent chair of Intel’s board, would be its interim executive chair during the transition, the company said.

Intel has 'much more work to do’

Previously dominant in the semiconductor space, Intel has faced mounting challenges over recent years after failing to capitalise on the rise of smartphones.

The company has lost contracts with the likes of Apple, which switched to its own chips designed in-house and made by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC); and Microsoft, which has shifted towards using chips designed by AMD on more of its devices.


Intel's share price has dropped by almost 50 per cent in the past 12 months. Photo: Intel / Supplied

Intel has also faced stiff competition in the artificial intelligence space, which has been dominated by AMD and Nvidia, which has become one of the most valuable companies in the world.

Intel’s decision to bet against technology from Dutch company ASML, which manufacturers specialised machines for chipmakers, was also “a fundamental mistake”, Gelsinger told The Verge in 2022.

Despite some chip production issues, Gelsinger’s plan to turnaround Intel involved expanding its manufacturing network and making chips for other companies — something the company had never done before.

The production expansion has partly relied on funding support and tax credits from the US government, which has awarded Intel contracts worth billions of dollars to develop chips which are critical to some weapons and national security systems.

Intel’s Yeary admitted the company needed to work to drive “greater efficiency and improved profitability” while “optimising” its operating expenses.

“While we have made significant progress in regaining manufacturing competitiveness and building the capabilities to be a world-class foundry, we know that we have much more work to do at the company and are committed to restoring investor confidence,” he said.

Gelsinger's replacement will face not only Intel's ongoing challenges, but also an incoming Donald Trump presidency, which some analysts have said could actually benefit the company if Trump does not protect Taiwan from China.