>and it makes sense to invest all the available resources into it - better from ROIC perspective
Also, not every tech company can compete in other realms of tech. How could intel really break into mobile? A non-ARM chip means lots of testing and cross compiling for .1% marketshare that no one will do. Or worse, battery and performance draining hacks to get ARM compiled binaries to run on x86. There's an ASUS (?) phone series that does this. Its terrible and panned by cell phone reviewers.
I think this is a lot more deterministic than we care to admit. I don't care how much "leadership" and "grit" and "listening to your customers" intel could have done better, its clear that they couldn't break the ARM mobile monopoly because no one can. Becoming a 3rd or 4th tier ARM producer amongst many would have probably gone to shit as well.
Its easy to arm-chair quarterback companies but the reality is that there isn't a lot of 'win-win' paths in business. Sometimes you just can't enter a new market or beat the new hot startup regardless of what you do.
Lastly, no one questions mass hirings that don't seem sustainable, but we all freak out when mass layoffs are announced. Its incredible how we think jobs only make sense as permanent fixtures, when in reality they're subjected to the same market forces everything else is. If anything, intel's biggest screw up was hiring too many people too quickly.
What if Intel had replaced Samsung as the fab for Apple's A series chips, getting to produce ~75 million units a quarter and starving Samsung of that revenue? Seems like it would have aligned well for Apple and Intel.
Also, not every tech company can compete in other realms of tech. How could intel really break into mobile? A non-ARM chip means lots of testing and cross compiling for .1% marketshare that no one will do. Or worse, battery and performance draining hacks to get ARM compiled binaries to run on x86. There's an ASUS (?) phone series that does this. Its terrible and panned by cell phone reviewers.
I think this is a lot more deterministic than we care to admit. I don't care how much "leadership" and "grit" and "listening to your customers" intel could have done better, its clear that they couldn't break the ARM mobile monopoly because no one can. Becoming a 3rd or 4th tier ARM producer amongst many would have probably gone to shit as well.
Its easy to arm-chair quarterback companies but the reality is that there isn't a lot of 'win-win' paths in business. Sometimes you just can't enter a new market or beat the new hot startup regardless of what you do.
Lastly, no one questions mass hirings that don't seem sustainable, but we all freak out when mass layoffs are announced. Its incredible how we think jobs only make sense as permanent fixtures, when in reality they're subjected to the same market forces everything else is. If anything, intel's biggest screw up was hiring too many people too quickly.