Intel increased profit by 38 per cent to $7bn (£3.6bn) in 2007, with revenue also up eight per cent to $38.3bn (£19.6bn).

But fourth quarter revenue of $10.7bn (£5.5bn), though up 42 per cent on the previous quarter and 10.5 per cent year on year, fell $88m (£45m) below expectations. Intel blames the falling price of memory chips due to global oversupply.

Revenue from Intel’s computing related products were in line with expectations. But annual net revenue for microprocessors in both the digital enterprise and mobility groups fell year on year, despite shipping more units.