Intel
Careers at Intel
Mission
Intel’s mission is to delight its customers, employees, and shareholders by relentlessly delivering the platform and technology advancements that become essential to the way we work and live.
Business segments
Intel is a technology company mostly known for manufacturing semiconductor chips. The company divides its offerings into five operating groups:
- Client Computing Group: Includes platforms designed for the desktop, the notebook, tablets, smartphones, and 2-in-1 systems; wired and wireless connectivity products; and mobile communication components.
- Data Center Group: Includes network, server, and storage platforms designed for cloud, enterprise, technical computing, and communications infrastructure segments.
- Internet of Things Group: Includes platforms created for embedded market segments such as transportation, retail, industrial, home, and buildings.
- Software and Services Group: Includes hardware and software products for consumer and mobile security, network and content security, endpoint security, and risk/compliance.
- All Other: Includes New Devices Group and Non-Volatile Memory Solutions Group, among others.
History
Intel was founded in 1968 by Gordon Moore and Robert Noyce. Both men had impressive backgrounds – Noyce, a physicist, was the co-inventor of the silicon integrated circuit, and Moore was the head of R&D at Fairchild Semiconductor. They recruited other Fairchild workers, including businessman Andrew Grove. The company was originally named “Moore Noyce”, but the founders decided that it sounded too much like “more noise”, a bad feature for electronics to have. They then settled on “Intel”, a combination of the first letters of each word in the term “Integrated Electronics”.
The company launched with $2.5 million in funding from Arthur Rock, a financier who originated the term “venture capitalist”. Its first products were memory chips, including the 1101, the first metal oxide semiconductor. They did not perform strongly, but then Intel unveiled the 1103, a dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) chip, the first one to be able to store a large amount of information. In 1970 the product was bought by Honeywell. Because they were less expensive and used less power than core memory, DRAMs soon became the standard memory chips for computers.
1971 was a big year for the firm – it became a public company. More importantly, it introduced the 4004, the world’s first microprocessor. Over the course of the decade, Intel grew and released a wider selection of products, including the erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM) chip, which would become and remain its top product line for a decade. Another major item was the 8086, the first 16-bit microprocessor. Co-founder Moore introduced“Moore’s Law“, his theory that the number of transistors on a silicon chip would double annually, resulting in faster processing speeds.
In 1981 IBM chose Intel‘s 8088 for its first mass-produced PC; it eventually made the company its microprocessor supplier, which began a 10-year period of growth for Intel. In the 1990s, Intel released its Pentium line of processors, which helped make the firm a household name. In the 2000s, it faced steep competition from AMD, but still remained a power player, as it does today.
Benefits at Intel
Business model of Intel
Customer Segments
Intel has a segmented business model, with customers who have slightly different needs:
- Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs): Manufacturers who resell Intel’s offerings under their own name.
- Original Design Manufacturers (ODMs): Manufacturers who provide manufacturing and design services to unbranded and branded private-label resellers.
- Other Manufacturers: Manufacturers of industrial and communications equipment.
Value Proposition
Intel offers three primary value propositions: accessibility, performance, and brand/status.
The company’s products are designed to operate on a wide variety of operating systems. This is made possible through its cooperation with customers and other third parties. As a result, its chips are suitable for a broad selection of end-users.
The company is typically faster than competitors when it comes to adopting next-generation process technology and taking products using that technology to market. For example, its solutions currently utilize 14nm process technology and it is developing 10nm process technology for the future. Consequently, its offerings tend to demonstrate superior performance.
The company has a well-established brand. It is known as the producer of the first microprocessor. Also, it gained a highly positive reputation due to the speed of its line of Pentium processors. It has been recognized for its prominence. For example, Interbrand ranked it at #14 in its list of “100 Best Global Brands” in 2014, as well as #15 on its list of “Best Global Green Brands” the same year.
Channels
Intel’s main channel is its website, through which it directly markets its products to customers. It further sells products through resellers and authorized distributors. The company also promotes its offerings through advertising on social media and TV and attending trade and consumer events.
Customer Relationships
Intel’s customer relationship is primarily of a self-service nature. Customers utilize its products while having limited interaction with employees. Its website features a wide variety of resources they can use if they require assistance, including a content library, a documentation library, product information materials, videos, and a section featuring answers to frequently asked questions. That said, there are also a community component in the form of peer and expert forums and a personal assistance element in the form of phone and e-mail support.
Key Activities
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).
Key Partners
Intel maintains the following partnership programs that provide training, support, and member-only rewards:
- Intel Technology Provider: This involves companies that recommend or resell tech products to consumers and businesses. Partners include GST, AMAX, Maingear, and Rave.
- Intel Authorized Distributor: This involves companies that distribute Intel products.
- Intel Inside Program: This involves companies whose offerings feature Intel products. They utilize the “Intel Inside” logo on the offerings’ exteriors or in their advertising campaigns and receive commissions from the company in exchange.
Key Resources
Intel’s main resource is its research and development team, which ensures that the company is on top of next-generation processing technologies, giving it a competitive advantage. The company also relies heavily on its sales and marketing staff.
Cost Structure
Intel has a value-driven structure, aiming to provide a premium proposition through quality. Its biggest cost driver is research/development expenses, a fixed cost. Other major drivers are in the areas of marketing and administration, both fixed costs.
Revenue Streams
Intel has three revenue streams: Platform Revenues (Client Computing Group, Data Center Group, Internet of Things Group), Software/Services Revenues, and Other Revenues (mostly revenue from the New Devices Group and Non-Volatile Memory Solutions Group).
