Case Study – Intel

Why has Intel been so successful in recent years?
What are the pros and cons of Intel’s current competitive position? Historically, Intel has been successful because of their innovation. They were responsible for 16 of the 22 major breakthroughs in microelectronics between the years 1971 and 1981; and because of these early successes Intel has been able to remain a major competitor in the technology industry. By 1991, Intel was the world’s second-largest manufacturer of integrated circuits and the world’s largest metal-oxide-silicon manufacturer.
Since then, new companies have arrived and threatened to take away market share from Intel. Because of this new competition, Intel has also implemented different strategies to protect itself from losing customers and help them remain successful. First, Intel used the legal system in order to protect their intellectual property rights. New competitors were finding ways to imitate and copy Intel’s patented products, so in order to protect itself, Intel took legal action against these companies and set up other documents to prevent it from happening in the future. This strategy helped them keep their products protected to make sure they were able to say competitive in the future.
Second, Intel used a major advertising campaign that cost approximately $100 million per year in order to gain better premium-brand recognition, especially with their new microprocessor’s unique features.
Third, Intel had the strategy to speed up the life cycle of their products by switching consumers to its “second-wave” microprocessors. Intel continued to accelerate the life cycles of these microprocessors in order to move up the introduction date of their newest microprocessors, thus continuing to stay ahead of their competitors. In conjunction with this strategy, Intel also concentrated their efforts in their R&D