Intel Corporation

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Intel Corporation
Type	Public (NASDAQ: INTC, SEHK: 4335)
Founded	1968 1
Headquarters	Santa Clara, California  United States
Key people	Paul S. Otellini, CEO Craig Barrett, Chairman
Industry	Semiconductors
Products	Microprocessors Flash memory Motherboard Chipsets Network Interface Card Bluetooth i am a shophmoreChipsets
Revenue	$35.7 billion USD (2006)
Operating income	$5.7 billion USD (2006)
Net income	$5 billion USD (2006)
Employees	94,000
Slogan	Leap Ahead
Website	www.intel.com
1Incorporated in California in 1968, reincorporated in Delaware in 1989.[1]

Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC; SEHK: 4335) is the world's largest semiconductor company and the inventor of the x86 series of microprocessors, the processors found in many personal computers. Founded in 1968 as Integrated Electronics Corporation and based in Santa Clara, California, USA, Intel also makes motherboard chipsets, network cards and ICs, flash memory, graphic chips, embedded processors, and other devices related to communications and computing. Founded by semiconductor pioneers Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore, Intel combines advanced chip design capability with a leading-edge manufacturing capability. Originally known primarily to engineers and technologists, Intel's successful "Intel Inside" advertising campaign of the 1990s made it and its Pentium processor household names.

Intel was an early developer of SRAM and DRAM memory chips, and this represented the majority of its business until the early 1990s.^{[citation needed]} While Intel created the first commercial microprocessor chip in 1971, it was not until the creation of the personal computer (PC) that this became their primary business. During the 1990s, Intel invested heavily in new microprocessor designs and in fostering the rapid growth of the PC industry. During this period Intel became the dominant supplier of microprocessors for PCs, and was known for aggressive and sometimes controversial tactics in defense of its market position, as well as a struggle with Microsoft for control over the direction of the PC industry.^{[citation needed]}

The 2007 rankings of the world's 100 most powerful brands published by Millward Brown Optimor showed the company's brand value falling 10 places – from number 15 to number 25. ^[2]

Contents 1 Corporate history 1.1 Origin of the name 1.2 Company's evolution 1.3 Sale of XScale processor business 2 Market history 2.1 SRAMS and the microprocessor 2.2 From DRAM to microprocessors 2.3 Intel, x86 processors, and the IBM PC 2.3.1 386 microprocessor 2.3.2 486, Pentium, and Itanium 2.3.3 Pentium flaw 2.3.4 Intel Inside, Intel Systems Division, and Intel Architecture Labs 2.4 Competition, antitrust and espionage 2.5 Partnership with Apple 2.6 Core Duo advertisement controversy 3 Corporate affairs 3.1 Leadership and corporate structure 3.2 Employee policies 3.2.1 Diversity Initiative 3.3 Finances 3.4 Advertising and brand management 3.4.1 Sonic logo 3.5 Open source support 4 Competition 4.1 Lawsuits 4.2 Anti-competitive allegations by regulatory bodies 5 Quotes 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Corporate history

Intel was founded in 1968 by Gordon E. Moore (a chemist and physicist) and Robert Noyce (a physicist and co-inventor of the integrated circuit) when they left Fairchild Semiconductor. A number of other Fairchild employees also went on to participate in other Silicon Valley companies. Intel's fourth employee was Andy Grove (a chemical engineer), who ran the company through much of the 1980s and the high-growth 1990s. Grove is now remembered as the company's key business and strategic leader. By the end of the 1990s, Intel was one of the largest and most successful businesses in the world.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Origin of the name

At its founding, Gordon Moore and Robert Noyce wanted to name their new company "Moore Noyce". This name, however, sounded remarkably similar to "more noise" — an ill-suited name for an electronics company, since noise is typically associated with bad interference. They then used the name NM Electronics for almost a year, before deciding to call their company INTegrated ELectronics or "Intel" for short. However, Intel was already trademarked by a hotel chain, so they had to buy the rights for that name at the beginning.^[3]

[edit] Company's evolution

Intel has grown through several distinct phases. At its founding, Intel was distinguished simply by its ability to make semiconductors, and its primary product were static random access memory (SRAM) chips. Intel's business grew during the 1970s as it expanded and improved its manufacturing processes and produced a wider range of products, still dominated by various memory devices.

While Intel created the first microprocessor in 1971 and one of the first microcomputers in 1972,^[4][5] by the early 1980s its business was dominated by dynamic random access memory chips. However, increased competition from Japanese semiconductor manufacturers had by 1983 dramatically reduced the profitability of this market, and the sudden success of the IBM personal computer convinced then-CEO Grove to shift the company's focus to microprocessors and to change fundamental aspects of that business model. By the end of the 1980s this decision had proven successful, and Intel embarked on a 10-year period of unprecedented growth as the primary (and most profitable) hardware supplier to the PC industry.

After 2000, growth in demand for high-end microprocessors slowed and competitors garnered significant market share, initially in low-end and mid-range processors but ultimately across the product range, and Intel's dominant position was reduced. In the early 2000s then-CEO Craig Barrett attempted to diversify the company's business beyond semiconductors, but few of these activities were ultimately successful.

In 2005, CEO Paul Otellini reorganized the company to refocus its core processor and chipset business on platforms (enterprise, digital home, digital health, and mobility) which led to the hiring of over 20,000 new employees. In September of 2006 due to falling profits, the company announced a restructuring that resulted in layoffs of 10,500 employees or about 10 percent of its workforce by July of 2006. Its research lab located at Cambridge University was closed at the end of 2006.

[edit] Sale of XScale processor business

On June 27, 2006, the sale of Intel's XScale assets was announced. Intel agreed to sell the XScale processor business to Marvell Technology Group for an estimated $600 million in cash and the assumption of unspecified liabilities. The move is intended to permit Intel to focus its resources on its core x86 and server businesses. The acquisition was completed on November 9, 2006.^[6]

[edit] Market history

[edit] SRAMS and the microprocessor

The company's first products were shift register memory and random-access memory integrated circuits, and Intel grew to be a leader in the fiercely competitive DRAM, SRAM, and ROM markets throughout the 1970s. Concurrently, Intel engineers Marcian Hoff, Federico Faggin, Stanley Mazor and Masatoshi Shima invented the first microprocessor. Originally developed for the Japanese company Busicom to replace a number of ASICs in a calculator already produced by Busicom, the Intel 4004 was introduced to the mass market on November 15, 1971, though the microprocessor did not become the core of Intel's business until the mid-1980s. (Note: Intel is usually given credit with Texas Instruments for the almost-simultaneous invention of the microprocessor.)

[edit] From DRAM to microprocessors

In 1983, at the dawn of the personal computer era, Intel's profits came under increased pressure from Japanese memory-chip manufacturers, and then-President Andy Grove drove the company into a focus on microprocessors. Grove described this transition in the book Only the Paranoid Survive. A key element of his plan was the notion, then considered radical, of becoming the single source for successors to the popular 8086 microprocessor.

Until then, manufacture of complex integrated circuits was not reliable enough for customers to depend on a single supplier, but Grove began producing processors in three geographically distinct factories, and ceased licensing the chip designs to competitors such as Zilog and AMD. When the PC industry exploded in the late 1980s and 1990s, Intel was one of the primary beneficiaries.

[edit] Intel, x86 processors, and the IBM PC

Despite the ultimate importance of the microprocessor, the 4004 and its successors the 8008 and the 8080 were never major revenue contributors at Intel. As the next processor, the 8086 (and its variant the 8088) was completed in 1978, Intel embarked on a major marketing and sales campaign for that chip nicknamed "Operation Crush", and intended to win as many customers for the processor as possible. One design win was the newly-created IBM PC division, though the importance of this was not fully realized at the time.

IBM introduced its personal computer in 1981, and it was rapidly successful. In 1982, Intel created the 80286 microprocessor, which, two years later, were used in the IBM PC/AT. Compaq, the first IBM PC "clone" manufacturer, in 1985 produced a desktop system based on the faster 80286 processor and in 1986 quickly followed with the first 80386-based system, beating IBM and establishing a competitive market for PC-compatible systems and setting up Intel as a key component supplier.

[edit] 386 microprocessor

During this period Andy Grove dramatically redirected the company, closing much of its DRAM business and directing resources to the microprocessor business. Of perhaps more importance was his decision to "single-source" the 386 microprocessor. Prior to this, microprocessor manufacturing was in its infancy, and manufacturing problems frequently reduced or stopped production, interrupting supplies to customers. To mitigate this risk, these customers typically insisted that multiple manufacturers produce chips they would use to ensure a consistent supply. The 8080 and 8086-series microprocessor were produced by several companies, notably Zilog and AMD. Grove made the decision not to license the 386 design to other manufacturers, instead producing it in three geographically-distinct factories in Santa Clara (CA), Hillsboro (OR), and Phoenix (AZ), and convincing customers that this would ensure consistent delivery. As the success of Compaq's Deskpro 386 established the 386 as the dominant CPU choice, Intel achieved a position of near-exclusive dominance as its supplier. Profits from this funded rapid development of both higher-performance chip designs and higher-performance manufacturing capabilities, propelling Intel to a position of unquestioned leadership by the early 1990s.

[edit] 486, Pentium, and Itanium

Intel introduced the 486 microprocessor in 1989, and in 1990 formally established a second design team, designing the processors code-named "P5" and "P6" in parallel and committing to a major new processor every two years, versus the four or more years such designs had previously taken. The P5 was introduced in 1993 as the Intel Pentium, substituting a trademarked name for the former part number (numbers, like 486, cannot be trademarked). The P6 followed in 1995 as the Pentium Pro and improved into the Pentium II in 1997. New architectures were developed alternately in Santa Clara, California and Hillsboro, Oregon.

The Santa Clara design team embarked in 1993 on a successor to the x86 architecture, codenamed "P7". The first attempt was dropped a year later, but quickly revived in a cooperative program with Hewlett-Packard engineers, though Intel soon took over primary design responsibility. The resulting implementation of the IA-64 64-bit architecture was the Itanium, introduced in June 2001. The Itanium's performance running legacy x86 code did not achieve expectations, and it initially failed to effectively compete with 64-bit extensions to the original x86 architecture, first from AMD (the AMD64), then from Intel itself (the Intel 64, formerly known as EM64T). Intel continues to develop and deploy the Itanium and the IA-64 architecture as the Itanium 2.

The Hillsboro team designed the Willamette processor (code-named P67 and P68) which was marketed as the Pentium 4, and later developed the 64-bit extensions to the x86 architecture, present in some versions of the Pentium 4 and in the Intel Core 2 chips. Many chip variants were developed at an office in Haifa, Israel.

[edit] Pentium flaw

Main article: Pentium FDIV bug

In June 1994, Intel engineers discovered a flaw in the floating-point math subsection of the Pentium microprocessor. Under certain data-dependent conditions, low-order bits of the result of floating-point division operations would be incorrect, an error that can quickly compound in floating-point operations to much larger errors in subsequent calculations. Intel decided to correct the error in a future chip revision, but nonetheless declined to disclose it.^{[citation needed]}

In October 1994, Dr. Thomas Nicely, Professor of Mathematics at Lynchburg College independently discovered the bug, and upon receiving no response from his inquiry to Intel, on October 30 posted a message on the Internet^[7]. Word of the bug spread quickly on the Internet and then to the industry press. Because the bug was easy to replicate by an average user (there was a sequence of numbers one could enter into the OS calculator to show the error), Intel's statements that it was minor and "not even an erratum" were not accepted by many computer users. During Thanksgiving 1994 the New York Times ran a piece by journalist John Markoff spotlighting the error. Intel changed their position and decided to offer to replace every chip, quickly putting in place a large end-user support organization. This resulted in a $500 million charge against Intel's 1994 revenue.

Ironically, the "Pentium flaw" incident, Intel's response to it, and the surrounding media coverage propelled Intel from being a technology supplier generally unknown to most computer users to a household name. Dovetailing with an up tick in the "Intel Inside" campaign, the episode is considered by some to have been a positive event for Intel, changing some of its business practices to be more end-user focused and generating substantial public awareness, while avoiding (for most users) a lasting negative impression.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Intel Inside, Intel Systems Division, and Intel Architecture Labs

During this period, Intel undertook two major supporting programs that helped guarantee their processor's success. The first is widely-known: the 1990 "Intel Inside" marketing and branding campaign. This campaign established Intel, which had been a component supplier little-known outside the PC industry, as a household name. The second program is little-known: Intel's Systems Group began, in the early 1990s, manufacturing PC "motherboards", the main board component of a personal computer, and the one into which the processor (CPU) and memory (RAM) chips are plugged. Shortly after, Intel began manufacturing fully-configured "white box" systems for the dozens of PC clone companies that rapidly sprang up. At its peak in the mid-1990s, Intel manufactured over 15% of all PCs, making it the third-largest supplier at the time. By manufacturing leading-edge PC motherboards systems, Intel enabled smaller manufacturers to compete with larger manufacturers, accelerating the adoption of the newest microprocessors and system architecture, including the PCI bus, USB and other innovations. This led to more rapid adoption of each of its new processors in turn.^{[citation needed]}

During the 1990s, Intel's Architecture Lab (IAL) was responsible for many of the hardware innovations of the personal computer, including the PCI Bus, the PCI Express (PCIe) bus, the Universal Serial Bus (USB), Bluetooth wireless interconnect, and the now-dominant architecture for multiprocessor servers. IAL's software efforts met with a more mixed fate; its video and graphics software was important in the development of software digital video, but later its efforts were largely overshadowed by competition from Microsoft. The competition between Intel and Microsoft was revealed in testimony by IAL Vice-President Steven McGeady at the Microsoft antitrust trial.

Another factor contributing to rapid adoption of Intel's processors during this period were the successive release of Microsoft Windows operating systems, each requiring significantly greater processor resources. The releases of Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows 2000 provided impetus for successive generations of hardware.

[edit] Competition, antitrust and espionage

Two factors combined to end this dominance: the slowing of PC demand growth beginning in 2000 and the rise of the low-cost PC. By the end of the 1990s, microprocessor performance had outstripped software demand for that CPU power. Aside from high-end server systems and software, demand for which dropped with the end of the "dot-com bubble", consumer systems ran effectively on increasingly low-cost systems after 2000. Intel's strategy of producing ever-more-powerful processors and obsoleting their predecessors stumbled, leaving an opportunity for rapid gains by competitors, notably AMD. This in turn lowered the profitability of the processor line and ended an era of unprecedented dominance of the PC hardware by Intel.^{[citation needed]}

Intel's dominance in the x86 microprocessor market led to numerous charges of antitrust violations over the years, including FTC investigations in both the late 1980s and in 1999, and civil actions such as the 1997 suit by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) and a patent suit by Intergraph. Intel's market dominance (at one time it controlled over 85% of the market for 32-bit PC microprocessors) combined with Intel's own hardball legal tactics (such as its infamous 338 patent^[8] suit versus PC manufacturers) made it an attractive target for litigation, but few of the lawsuits ever amounted to anything.

A case of industrial espionage arose in 1995 that involved both Intel and AMD. Guillermo Gaede, an Argentine immigrant formerly employed both at AMD and at Intel's Arizona plant, was arrested for attempting in 1993 to sell the i486 and Pentium designs to AMD and to certain foreign powers.^[9] Gaede videotaped data from his computer screen at Intel and mailed it to AMD, which alerted Intel and authorities, resulting in Gaede's arrest. Gaede was convicted and sentenced to 33 months in prison in June of 1996.^[10][11]

[edit] Partnership with Apple

For more details on this topic, see Apple Intel transition.

On June 6, 2005, Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced that Apple would be transitioning from its long favored PowerPC architecture to the Intel x86 architecture, because the future PowerPC road map was unable to satisfy Apple's needs. The first Apple computers containing Intel CPUs were announced on January 10, 2006. Apple initially planned to put Intel chips in all of their computers by the end of 2007, and later announced that it would be complete by the end of 2006^[12], but Apple managed to have its entire consumer product line running on Intel processors by early August 2006. The Apple Xserve server was updated to Intel Xeon processors from November 2006 and is offered in a configuration similar to Apple's Mac Pro.^[13]

[edit] Core Duo advertisement controversy

In 2007, the company released a print advertisement for its Core Duo processor featuring six African American runners appearing to bow down to a Caucasian male inside of an office setting. According to Nancy Bhagat, Vice President of Intel Corporate Marketing, the general public found the ad to be "insensitive and insulting".^[14] The campaign was quickly pulled and several Intel executives made public apologies on the corporate website.^[15]

[edit] Corporate affairs

In September 2006, Intel had nearly 100,000 employees and 200 facilities world wide. Its 2005 revenues were $38.8 billion and its Fortune 500 ranking was 49th. Its stock symbol is INTC, listed on the NASDAQ.

[edit] Leadership and corporate structure

Robert Noyce was Intel's CEO at its founding in 1968, followed by co-founder Gordon Moore in 1975. Andy Grove became the company's President in 1979 and added the CEO title in 1987 when Moore became Chairman. In 1997 Grove succeeded Moore as Chairman, and Craig Barrett, already company president, took over. On May 18, 2005, Barrett handed the reins of the company over to Paul Otellini, who previously was the company president and was responsible for Intel's design win in the original IBM PC. The board of directors elected Otellini CEO, and Barrett replaced Grove as Chairman of the Board. Grove stepped down as Chairman, but will be retained as a special adviser.

Current members of the board of directors of Intel are Craig Barrett, Charlene Barshefsky, Susan Decker James Guzy, Reed Hundt, Paul Otellini, James Plummer, David Pottruck, Jane Shaw, John Thornton, and David Yoffie^[16].

[edit] Employee policies

Intel is not typical of its Silicon Valley counterparts. Its culture is not as relaxed and informal as companies such as Google or Sun Microsystems. It has a fairly strict meritocracy that rewards work generously and does not keep "dead wood" employees around for very long.^[17][18]

The firm promotes very heavily from within, most notably in its executive suite. The company has resisted the trend toward outsider CEOs. Paul Otellini was a 30-year veteran of the company when he assumed the role of CEO. All of his top lieutenants have risen through the ranks after many years with the firm. In many cases, Intel's top executives have spent their entire working careers with Intel, a very rare occurrence in volatile Silicon Valley.

Intel has a mandatory retirement policy for its CEO when they reach age 65, but only one CEO, Barrett, has actually retired at 65. Previous CEOs all retired before reaching that age; Grove retired at 62, while both Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore retired at 58. At 57, Otellini has a long career at the helm ahead of him, assuming he goes until age 65 and performs satisfactorily.

No one has an office; everyone, even Otellini, sits in a cubicle. This is designed to promote egalitarianism among employees, but some new hires have difficulty adjusting to this change. Intel is not alone in this policy. Hewlett-Packard has a similar no-office policy.

[edit] Diversity Initiative

Intel has a Diversity Initiative, including employee diversity groups as well as supplier diversity programs.^[19] Like many companies with employee diversity groups, they include groups based on race and nationality as well as sexual identity and religion. In 1994, Intel sanctioned one of the earliest corporate Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender employee groups,^[20] and supports a Muslim employees group,^[21] a Jewish employees group,^[22] and a Bible-based Christian group.^[23][24]

Intel received a 100% rating on the first Corporate Equality Index released by the Human Rights Campaign in 2002. It has maintained this rating in 2003 and 2004. In addition, the company was named one of the 100 Best Companies for Working Mothers in 2005 by Working Mother magazine. However, Intel's working practices still face criticism, most notably from Ken Hamidi,^[25] a former employee who has been subject to multiple unsuccessful lawsuits from Intel.

[edit] Finances

Intel's market capitalization is $127 billion (June 8, 2006). It publicly trades on NASDAQ with the symbol INTC, and is a member of the following indices: Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, NASDAQ-100, SOX (PHLX Semiconductor Sector), and GSTI Software Index.

INTC is a widely-held stock, with almost 5.8 billion shares outstanding. Institutional investors and mutual funds hold 54% of this stock, and corporate insiders, including Gordon Moore and Andy Grove, hold only about 3%. Intel achieved its all-time high closing stock price on August 31, 2000 at $74.87. Since then, it reached a low closing price of $14.62 on September 23, 2002. As of March 2007 the stock price was about $20.

[edit] Advertising and brand management

Intel has become one of the world's most recognizable computer brands following its long-running "Intel Inside" campaign. The campaign, which started in 1990, was created by Intel marketing manager Dennis Carter.^[26] The five-note jingle was introduced the following year and by its tenth anniversary was being heard in 130 countries around the world.

The Intel Inside program was very lucrative for advertisers and further served to broaden the company's awareness as a key ingredient inside PCs. Intel paid half the advertising costs for any ad that used the "Intel Inside" logo. If the ads didn't meet these requirements, Intel did not pay half the cost, and the advertiser was prohibited from using the "Intel Inside" logo. PC companies advertising products containing Intel chips are required to include the jingle in their film and television advertisements in order to receive the reimbursement.

The Centrino advertising campaign has been hugely successful, leading to the ability to access wireless internet from a laptop becoming linked in consumers' minds to Intel chips. In the UK this has caused some controversy, as the ASA upheld complaints that this was a misleading advert.

In 2006, Intel has expanded its promotion of open specification platforms beyond Centrino, to include the Viiv media centre PC and the business desktop Intel vPro.

In December 2005, Intel phased out the "Intel Inside" campaign in favor of a new logo and the slogan, "Leap ahead". The new logo is clearly inspired by the "Intel Inside" logo. In fact, sometimes "Intel Inside" is used, only this time with the processor name between the two words. Like so: "Intel Core Duo Inside".

In mid January 2006, Intel announced that they were dropping the long running Pentium name from its processors. They phased out the Pentium names from mobile processors first, when the new Yonah chips, branded Core Solo and Core Duo, were released. The desktop processors changed when the Core 2 line of processors were released. The Pentium name was first used to refer to the P5 core Intel processors (Pent refers to the 5 in P5,) and was done to circumvent court rulings that prevent the trademarking of a string of numbers, so competitors could not just call their processor the same name, as had been done with the prior 386 and 486 processors. (Both of which had copies manufactured by both IBM and AMD.)

In March 2007, The Intel logo was shown briefly in one of the scenes of the movie, "The Last Mimzy."

Though some in the Macintosh community were concerned that Intel's branding, including the decals and jingle, would be used with the new Intel-based Macintoshes (see Apple Intel transition), this has not occurred.

Intel's "Intel Inside" campaign has generally been considered to be world class marketing. However, over the years there have been several plays on the Intel branding scheme which have appeared on the web. While such jabs at Intel are obviously beyond the company's ability to control, they do tend to show that not everyone believes that Intel's programs and policies are always world class. For example, there is the popular "evil inside" logo[2], the ubiquitous picture of a tombstone with "R.I.P Intel Inside" ^[27], and the descriptive "Idiot Outside" logo: [3].

[edit] Sonic logo

The famous "D♭  D♭  G♭  D♭  A♭" jingle (or sonic logo) (MP3 file of sonic logo) was written by Walter Werzowa from the Austrian 1980s sampling band Edelweiss.^[28]

[edit] Open source support

Intel has a significant participation in the open source communities. For example, in 2006 Intel released MIT-licensed X.org drivers for their integrated graphics cards of the i965 family of chipsets. On other occasions, Intel released FreeBSD drivers for some networking cards,^[29] available under a BSD-compatible licence, which were also ported to OpenBSD.

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However, after the release of the wireless products called Intel Pro/Wireless 2100, 2200BG/2225BG/2915ABG and 3945ABG in 2005, Intel was criticized for not granting free redistribution rights for the firmwares that are necessary to be included in the operating systems for the wireless devices to operate.^[30] As a result of this, Intel became a target of campaigns to allow free operating systems to include binary firmwares on terms acceptable to the open source community. Linspire-Linux creator Michael Robertson outlined the difficult position that Intel was in releasing to Open Source, as Intel did not want to upset their large customer Microsoft.^[31] Theo de Raadt of OpenBSD also claimed that Intel is being "an Open Source fraud" after an Intel employee presented a distorted view of the situation on an open-source conference.^[32] In spite of the significant negative attention Intel received as a result of the wireless dealings, the binary firmware still has not gained a license compatible with free software principles.

[edit] Competition

During the 1980s, Intel was among the top ten worldwide semiconductor sales leaders (10th in 1987), dominated by Japanese chip makers. In 1991, Intel achieved the number one ranking and has held it ever since. Other top semiconductor companies include AMD, Samsung, Texas Instruments, Toshiba and STMicroelectronics.

Further information: Semiconductor sales leaders by year

Competitors in PC chipsets include VIA Technologies, SiS, ATI, and NVIDIA. Intel's competitors in networking include Freescale, Infineon, Broadcom, Marvell Technology Group and AMCC, and its competitors in flash memory include Spansion, Samsung, Qimonda, Toshiba, STMicroelectronics, and Hynix.

The only major competitor to Intel on the x86 processor market is Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), with which Intel has had full cross-licensing agreements since 1976: each partner can use the other's patented technological innovations without charge after a certain time.^[33] However, the cross-licensing agreement is canceled in the event of an AMD bankruptcy or takeover. ^[34] Some smaller competitors such as VIA and Transmeta produce low-power processors for small factor computers and portable equipment.

[edit] Lawsuits

In September 2005, Intel filed its response to an AMD lawsuit,^[35] disputing AMD's claims, and stating that its business practices are fair and lawful. In its rebuttal, Intel laid out the skeleton of its legal defense, which included a deconstruction of AMD's offensive strategy and levied the charge that AMD's long-struggling market position is largely a result of bad business decisions and management incompetence, including underinvestment in essential manufacturing capacity and over-reliance on contracting out chip foundries.^[36]

Legal experts predict the lawsuit will most likely drag out for a number of years, since Intel's response indicates they are not likely to try to settle with AMD.^{[citation needed]}

In October 2006, a Transmeta lawsuit was filed against Intel for patent infringement covering computer architecture and power efficiency technologies.^[37]

[edit] Anti-competitive allegations by regulatory bodies

In July 2007, the European Commission formally accused Intel of anti-competitive practices, mostly against its main competitor AMD.^[38] The allegations, going back till 2003, include giving preferential prices to computer makers getting most or all CPU chips from Intel, paying computer makers to delay or cancel the launch of products using AMD chips and providing CPU chips at below cost to governments and educational institutions.^[39]

Intel responded that the allegations were unfounded and instead qualified its market behavior as consumer-friendly.^[40] General counsel Bruce Sewell also responded that the Commission had misunderstood some factual assumptions concerning price and manufacturing costs.^[41]

If found guilty of stifling competition, Intel could be fined up to 10% of its annual revenue.^[40] Rival AMD also subsequently launched a website focusing on these allegations.^[42][43]

In September 2007, South Korean regulators formally accused Intel for breaking antitrust law. The enquiry began in February 2006 when officials raided Intel's South Korean offices. If found guilty, the company risks being fined up to 3% of its annual sales.^[44]

[edit] Quotes

Bad companies are destroyed by crisis, Good companies survive them, Great companies are improved by them

—Andy Grove, after the Pentium Processor flaw in December 1994

Each year the H1-B cap has been reached earlier and earlier and earlier. By hitting it the first day, it means it is severely under-rated how many we [the United States] need. [...] If the cap is truly reached, that means there are no [visas] available until 10/1/08. ...It will impact hiring."

—Margie Jones, U.S. immigration manager at Intel Corp, "US reaches visa cap, skilled workers out of luck", Reuters, April 4, 2007

[edit] See also

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Transmeta Intel graphics media accelerator Comparison of NVIDIA Graphics Processing Units Comparison of ATI Graphics Processing Units Intel Science Talent Search ASCI Red supercomputer Justin Rattner

List of Intel microprocessors List of Intel chipsets List of Intel Pentium 4 microprocessors List of Intel Pentium D microprocessors List of Intel Celeron microprocessors List of Intel Pentium M microprocessors List of Intel Xeon microprocessors List of Intel Core microprocessors List of Intel Core 2 microprocessors

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Intel website
• blogs.intel.com
• Intel Science Talent Search
• Andy Grove interview by iinnovatecast
• YouTube Intel Channel
• Intel Corporation at the Open Directory Project

Business data

• INTEL CORP. at Google Finance
• INTEL CORP. at Yahoo Finance
• INTEL CORP. at Hoover's
• INTEL CORP. at Reuters
• INTEL CORP. SEC filings at EDGAR Online
• INTEL CORP. SEC filings at the Securities and Exchange Commission

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Dot-com/web services	Amazon.com · AOL · eBay · Google · Microsoft · Yahoo!
Electronics manufacturers	Celestica · Elcoteq · Flextronics · Foxconn · Jabil · Kimball · Plexus · Quanta · Sanmina-SCI · SMTC · Solectron
IT consulting	Accenture · ACS · Atos Origin · Avanade · BearingPoint · Booz Allen Hamilton · BT · Capgemini · CGI · Cognizant · CSC · Deloitte. · EDS · First Data · Fujitsu · Getronics · HCL · HP · IBM Global Business Services · i-flex · Indra · Infosys · Keane · LogicaCMG · Orange Business Services · PA · Perot · SAIC · Sapient · Satyam · TCS · TietoEnator · Titan · Unisys · Wipro
Semiconductors	AMD · Broadcom · Elpida · Fairchild · Freescale · Hynix · Infineon · Intel · Micron · National · NVIDIA · NXP · Qimonda · Renesas · Rohm · Sharp · STMicroelectronics · TI · TSMC · VIA
Software	Adobe · CA · EA · Intuit · McAfee · Microsoft · Nintendo · Novell · Oracle · Red Hat · SAP · Symantec
Telecom	América Móvil · AT&T · BT · Cablevision · Comcast · Deutsche Telekom · Earthlink · France Télécom · KT · NTT · O2 · Orange · Qwest · RCN · Rogers · SK Telecom · Sprint Nextel · Swisscom · T-Mobile · Telecom Italia · Telefónica · Telmex · Time Warner · Verizon · Virgin · Vodafone
Vertically integrated manufacturers	Apple · HP · IBM · NCR · NEC · Sun