Intel says that it will continue to chuck shedloads of cash at R&D despite the fact that its income has dropped by 90 per cent.

The outfit said that rather than cutting back and moaning about its lot, it will deal with the decline by spending vast amounts of money on advancing its manufacturing facilities.

Yesterday the outfit reported a 90 percent drop in net income to $234 million.  Last year it earned more than $2.3 billion.  This included a billion-dollar reduction in the carrying value of the company's investments in Clearwire. Intel also reported a 23 percent drop in fourth-quarter revenue to $8.2 billion.

Paul Otellini, chief executive at Intel, in a statement that Intel had weathered difficult times in the past, and we know what needs to be done to drive our success moving forward.

During previous slumps, Intel invested in manufacturing facilities which have set it apart from rivals while slowing production.

Also read:

Intel's net profit drops 90 percent in Q4