Intel Corporation

Intel Corporation

• Founders: Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore.
• Distinction: Invented microprocessor, paving way for computer revolution.
• Primary products: Computer chips, networking and communications gear.
• Annual sales: $29.389 billion.
• Number of employees: 70,200.
• Major competitors: Advanced Micro Devices, IBM, Motorola.
• Chairman Emeritus: Gordon E. Moore; Chairman: Andrew S. Grove; President and CEO: Craig R. Barrett.
• Headquarters: Santa Clara, Ca.
• Year founded: 1968.
• Web site: www.intel.com.

Some say Intel became the top computer-chip maker in the world simply because it invented the tiny chips that now control everything from computers and cell phones to toys and thermostats. Others contend the firm’s number-one position stems primarily from its manufacturing prowess, which enabled almost flawless production of millions of chips since they were first introduced some three decades ago. Still others insist it comes from the brilliant management team that founded the company long before high-tech was fashionable, and then kept it on the cutting edge of a rapidly growing industry.

In retrospect, though, it actually may have more to do with a revolutionary advertising campaign centered on two basic words—Intel Inside. This little phrase transformed the once obscure corporation into a hot brand well-known in the world. By using traditional marketing techniques to spotlight a nontraditional item, Intel drove consumers to insist that its hidden but critical products were central to the electronic gear they began purchasing by the truckload. Its pioneering position, exceptionally efficient production techniques, and extraordinary corporate administration all played a significant part in the company’s rise. But without an attentiongrabbing ad campaign that began with dancing technicians in colorful bunny suits and ended in the four musical tones that became its audio tagline, Intel may never have achieved such world-changing status.

With it, of course, the company captured more than 80 percent of the marketshare for the driving force behind today’s computers. It also became largely responsible for making these now omnipresent devices affordable yet more powerful than the roomsized units once used to launch rockets into space. And it set the stage for developments that led to other electronic gadgets, ultimately reshaping our world in ways that could never have been imagined when the company first opened for business during the social and political upheaval of the late 1960s.

Like most companies that transfor med the way we live and work, however, Intel has never been able to rest on its laurels. Increasing competition and major changes in the products they offer, have forced it to steadily implement significant shifts in strategy and direction in order to retain its lofty corporate perch.