"Under my leadership, Intel will be an engineering focused company," he promised, pledging to return Intel to its roots.

At a recent Intel conference, Tan made no mention of breaking up the company, and said that Intel will launch new products like custom semiconductors.

Intel Corp. Chief Executive Officer Lip-Bu Tan said the chipmaker will spin off assets that aren’t central to its mission and create new products including custom semiconductors to try to better align itself with customers.