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Intel Corporation From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (Redirected from Intel) Jump to: navigation, search "Intel" redirects here. For other uses, see Intel (disambiguation) and Intelligence (disambiguation). Intel Corporation Slogan Leap ahead. Type Public (NASDAQ: INTC) Founded 1968 Headquarters Santa Clara, California, USA (incorporated in Delaware) Key people Paul Otellini, CEO Craig Barrett, Chairman Industry Semiconductors Products Microprocessors Flash memory Motherboard Chipsets Network Interface Card Revenue $38.83 billion USD (2005) Operating income $12.1 billion USD (2005) Net income $8.7 billion USD (2005) Employees 99,900 Website www.intel.com Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC, SEHK: 4335), founded in 1968 as Integrated Electronics Corporation and based in Santa Clara, California, USA, is the world's largest semiconductor company. Intel is best known for its PC microprocessors, where it maintains roughly 80% market share. Intel also makes motherboard chipsets, network cards and other networking ICs, flash memory, embedded processors, and other devices related to communications and computing. Intel's core competency is based not only in its chip design capability but in its world class manufacturing operation; the company is at the leading edge of advanced process technology and also has advanced research projects in all aspects of semiconductor manufacturing, including MEMS. Contents[hide] 1 Overview 1.1 Competitors 1.2 SRAMS and the microprocessor 1.3 From DRAM to microprocessors 1.4 Intel, x86 processors, and the IBM PC 1.4.1 386 microprocessor 1.4.2 486, Pentium, and Itanium 1.4.3 Pentium flaw 1.4.4 Intel Inside, Intel Systems Division, and Intel Architecture Labs 1.4.5 Rise of competition 1.5 Partnership with Apple 1.6 Competition, antitrust and espionage 1.7 Leadership 1.7.1 Corporate governance 1.8 Origin of the name 2 Finances 3 Diversity 4 Advertising 4.1 Jingle 5 Sale of Intel's XScale processor business 6 Intel and Free software 7 See also 8 References 9 External links 9.1 Data [edit] Overview Intel headquarters in Santa ClaraIntel 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. It is noteworthy that Intel competitor AMD was also founded by members of the Traitorous Eight, in 1969. 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, though fierce competition within the semiconductor industry has since diminished its position. 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, 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 unprecendented 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 successsful. In 2005 and 2006, CEO Paul Otellini reorganized the company to refocus on core processor businesses and announced a series of dramatic cuts in the size of Intel's workforce that will ultimately reduce the company's size by over 10%. 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] Competitors 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 Samsung, Texas Instruments, Toshiba and STMicroelectronics. Further information: Worldwide Top 20 Semiconductor Market Share Ranking Year by Year Intel's chief rival in PC microprocessors is Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). Competitors in PC chipsets include VIA Technologies, SiS, ATI, and NVIDIA. Intel's competitors in networking include Freescale, Broadcom, Marvell, and AMCC, and its competitors in flash memory include Spansion, Samsung, Toshiba, STMicroelectronics, and Hynix. [edit] SRAMS and the microprocessor Intel C4004, the world's first single-chip microprocessor. The"gold and white with gray traces" specimen shown belongs to the initial CERDIP type series manufactured in 1971.The company's first products were 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 the 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, though IBM chose not to use that, embarking on an effort to produce its own x86 processor under a cross-licensing agreement with Intel. 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 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. Intel Pentium 4 Processor [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" i