PB you're correct. Intel's unique strength is the mutual support of design and production. Any graduate student can design a microprocessor that will beat anything alive or planned, but no one can manufacture it. Intel in the past fifteen years has become the greatest manufacturing company in the world. No manufacturer comes close to their average gross margin dollars, and in proportion to their physical capital, Intel is the most productive large company in the world. The imputed value of the human capital of Intel members like you is the largest of any company in the world. Despite the fact that there are only 30,000 or so people working in manufacturing in Intel it is the most valuable and profitable and productive work force in the world. Yet despite the profitability of Intel, workers are rewarded in proportion to their performance, and unlike many companies, are not exploited (as a group) at all.
Yet every year Intel cuts the prices sharply on its chips, and customers share in the productivity by getting faster, cheaper, more capable PC's and servers.
Speaking as a professional economist and management strategist, I believe that Intel is the originator and chief proponent of the "new economy." They make too many mistakes. Their vision is not always 20/20. But this is a company that has shown the way, and IMO will continue to show the way. This is a company that learns and shares and I am proud to be a part-owner of it. |
