Intel - Dominating the CPU market for the last decade

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Intel Corp. is one of the computer chip companies. Intel offers platform products that incorporate various components and technologies, including a microprocessor and chipset, a stand-alone SoC, or a multichip package. Intel also includes autonomous cars and small low-power devices as well as a broad range of solutions targeting the data center, wireless, networking, military, medical, and industrial market segments.

Love it or hate it, Intel says it’s a new era. “We are a different company than we were even five years ago,” Chief Marketing Officer, Karen Walker said.

Intel - Company Highlights

  • Startup Name-Intel Corporation
  • Headquarters-Santa Clara, California, U.S.
  • Industries-Semiconductors
  • Founders-Gordon Moore, Robert Noyce
  • Founded-July 18, 1968
  • CEO-Bob Swan
  • Areas served-Worldwide
  • Website-www.intel.com

Intel - About and How it Works?

Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, in Silicon Valley. It is the world's largest and highest-valued semiconductor chip manufacturer on the basis of revenue, and is the developer of the x86 series of microprocessors, the processors found in most personal computers (PCs).

Intel supplies microprocessors for computer system manufacturers such as Apple, Lenovo, HP, and Dell. Intel also manufactures motherboard chip-sets, network interface controllers and integrated circuits, flash memory, graphics chips, embedded processors and other devices related to communications and computing. Although Intel created the world's first commercial microprocessor chip in 1971, it was not until the success of the personal computer (PC) that this became its primary business.

Intel - Logo and it's meaning

“The new look and feel of the Intel brand is purposeful and inspired by (Intel co-founder) Robert Noyce’s quote: ‘Don’t be encumbered by history. Go off and do something wonderful,’. The company has only embarked on two major brand transitions: once in 1969, the other in 2006.

Intel - Founders and History

Gordon Moore and Robert Noyce are the founders of Intel.

Gordon Moore and Robert Noyce

Intel Corporation was founded on July 18, 1968 by semiconductor pioneers Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore (of Moore's law), and is associated with the executive leadership and vision of Andrew Grove. The company's name was conceived as portmanteau of the words integrated and electronics, with co-founder Noyce having been a key inventor of the integrated circuit (the microchip). The fact that "intel" is the term for intelligence information also made the name appropriate.

Intel was an early developer of SRAM and DRAM memory chips, which represented the majority of its business until 1981. Although Intel created the world's first commercial microprocessor chip in 1971, it was not until the success of the personal computer (PC) that this became its primary business.

During the 1990s, Intel invested heavily in new microprocessor designs fostering the rapid growth of the computer industry. During this period, Intel became the dominant supplier of microprocessors for PCs and was known for aggressive and anti-competitive tactics in defense of its market position, particularly against Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), as well as a struggle with Microsoft for control over the direction of the PC industry.

Intel - Mission

The Intel company mission statement is: "Delight our customers, employees, and shareholders by relentlessly delivering the platform and technology advancements that become essential to the way we work and live."

Their mission is to create world-changing technology that enriches the lives of every person on earth. They engineer solutions for our customers' greatest challenges with reliable, cloud to edge computing, inspired by Moore's Law.

Intel - Business Model

Around 2013 Intel set a plan and strategy to transform itself from a PC-centric to a data-centric company. By 2018 this objective was almost accomplished at least from a revenues standpoint. Intel's business model entails designing, developing, and manufacturing its products. While its offerings are usually produced at one of many Intel facilities, some manufacturing is assigned to subcontractors (namely board-level products and systems).

Intel - Growth and Revenue

Intel's annual revenue has only been growing for the last decade, 2020 being the most profitable year for Intel.

Year Annual Revenue Percentage change

2020 $78.098B +10.91%

2019 $71.965B +1.58%

2018 $70.848B +12.89%

2017 $62.761B +5.68%

Intel - Investments

Intel has made 1,394 investments. Their most recent investment was on Nov 5, 2020, when Ayar Labs raised $35M.

Date Stage Amount Organization Name

Nov 5, 2020 Series B $35M Ayar Labs

Oct 27, 2020 Series B $10M Panoply

Oct 21, 2020 Series B $40M Anyscale

Oct 13, 2020 Series B $20M Matroid

Oct 8, 2020 Series A $15M Accurics

Oct 7, 2020 Series D $80M Aledia

Oct 1, 2020 Series B $13M Eclypsium

Sep 30, 2020 Series A $20M Cornelis Networks

Sep 29, 2020 Funding Round - Lightbits Labs

Sep 22, 2020 Series A $11M EasySend

Intel - Competitors

Intel's competitors in PC chipsets include Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), VIA Technologies, Silicon Integrated Systems, and Nvidia. Intel's competitors in networking include NXP Semiconductors, Infineon, Broadcom Limited, Marvell Technology Group and Applied Micro Circuits Corporation, and competitors in flash memory include Spansion, Samsung Electronics, Qimonda, Toshiba, STMicroelectronics, and SK Hynix.

The only major competitor in the x86 processor market is AMD, with which Intel has had full cross-licensing agreements since 1976.

Intel - Challenges Faced

The industry in which Intel operates experiences heavy competition. Apart from the rapidly changing technological environment, there are several other factors like fast-changing customer needs, as well as market developments too make the industry environment highly challenging. Intel both needs to anticipate and respond to these changes swiftly to remain competitive.

Intel has manufacturing, assembly and test, R&D, sales, and other operations in several countries around the globe. While the U.S. is a top market for Intel, its sales and revenue from China have grown. In 2018, the company earned around 84% of its revenue from non-US markets. Slowed economic growth, uncertainty in fiscal or monetary policy, higher interest rates, tighter credit, inflation, lower capital expenditures by businesses including on IT, and several more similar factors can harm the growth and profitability of Intel.

Its global supply chain is also full of dangers, and managing it can be highly challenging. Intel sources form thousands of suppliers from around the globe, and reduced availability of raw material can lead to production delays or other difficulties in manufacturing.

For the assembly and testing of certain products and components, the company also depends on third party providers. If any of the third-party providers are unable to provide their services in a timely and cost-effective manner, that too will lead to problems and complexities for Intel.

Several legal and political challenges can lead to an increase in operational costs and compliance costs. Overall, there are several risks and challenges related to the business model of Intel Corporation.

Intel - Future Plans

Swan said that Intel plans to spend $17 billion on capital expenditures by 2020, following record investments in capex for the past two years. The added capacity allowed Intel to expand its PC CPU supply in the second half of 2019 by double digits relative to the first half. In 2019, Swan said Intel generated $3.8 billion in AI-based revenue. The AI market opportunity is expected to be $25 billion by 2024.

In a statement, an Intel spokesperson said, “Changes in our workforce are driven by the priorities of our business, which we continually evaluate. As we move into 2020, our business units are focusing their resources on areas where we have the greatest opportunity for growth and, as part of that, some are planning to eliminate roles associated with projects that are no longer priorities. Wherever possible, we’ve transitioned employees or teams within the company to areas of business need, and we expect this to impact less than 1% of our global workforce, subject to local requirements.

Intel confirmed that it is reorganizing its datacenter products group and laying off some employees. It did not say how many, except that it was less than 1% of the workforce, which means it is less than 1,100 employees.