Intel Corp's first-quarter profit fell 38 percent Wednesday as the PC market weakened and it continued to face stiff competition from rival chip-maker Advanced Micro Devices Inc.

For the three months ended April 1, the Santa Clara-based company reported net income of $1.35 billion, or 23 cents a share, compared with $2.18 billion, or 35 cents, in same period last year. Sales fell to $8.94 billion from $9.43 billion.

The results were in line with consensus estimates for profit of 23 cents and revenue of $8.91 billion in a Thomson Financial survey of analysts.

Intel forecast revenue for the current quarter to be in the range of $8 billion to $8.6 billion, below a consensus estimate of $8.85 billion. The company said 2006 sales would be about $37.64 billion, less than the $38 billion analysts had been expecting.

The results were released after financial markets ended regular trading. Earlier, Intel shares closed at $19.56, up 17 cents, on the Nasdaq Stock Market. They were trading higher in after-hours trading.