Intel today. Annual report 2000 Today, Intel supplies the computing and communications industries with chips, boards and systems building blocks that are the ingredients of computers, servers, and networking and communications products.
Industry members to create advanced computing and communications systems use these products. Intel s mission is to be the preeminent building block supplier to the worldwide Internet economy.
Intel Architecture platform products Microprocessors, also called central processing units CPUs or chips, are frequently described as the brains of a computer, because they control the central processing of data in personal computers PCs, servers, workstations and other computers. Intel offers microprocessors optimized for each segment of the computing market Intel Pentium III Xeon processors for mid-range to high-end servers and workstations Intel Pentium 4 and Pentium III processors for entry-level servers and workstations and performance desktop PCs Intel Celeron processors for value PC systems Mobile Pentium III processors for performance in mobile PC systems Chipsets perform essential logic functions surrounding the CPU in computers, and support and extend the graphics, video and other capabilities of many Intel processor-based systems.
Motherboards combine Intel microprocessors and chipsets to form the basic subsystem of a PC or server. e-Business solutions enable services and channel programs to accelerate integration and deployment of Intel Architecture-based systems and products.
Wireless communications and computing products These products are component-level hardware and software focusing on digital cellular communications and other applications needing both low-power processing and high performance. These products are used in mobile phones, handheld devices, two-way pagers and many other products. For these markets, Intel offers Intel Flash memory, application processors based on the Intel StrongARM processor core, and base band chipsets for cellular phones and other wireless devices.
Networking and communications products Communications building blocks for next-generation networks and Internet data centers are offered at various levels of integration. These products are used in communications servers, network appliances and computer telephony integration equipment. Component-level building blocks include communications silicon such as network processors and other board-level components, software and embedded control chips.
These products are integrated in communications hardware such as hubs, routers, switches and servers for local and wide area networking applications. Embedded control chips are also used in laser printers, imaging, automotive systems and other applications. New business products These products and services include e-Commerce data center services as well as connected peripherals.
Intel s major customers include Original equipment manufacturers OEMs of computer systems, cellular phone and handheld computing devices, telecommunications and networking communications equipment, and peripherals. Users of PC and network communications products including individuals, large and small businesses, and Internet service providers-who buy Intel s PC enhancements, business communications products and networking products through reseller, retail, e-Business and OEM channels. Other manufacturers including makers of a wide range of industrial and communications equipment.
The emergence of the PC industryUntil the early 1970s, computers were huge machines - from the largest ones, the supercomputers, to mainframes and minicomputers - and were mainly used for scientific research in universities and in military institutions, and for business calculations in major companies. Surprisingly, when the first microprocessors appeared, none of the established companies such as IBM, DEC or HP had the idea to build small, personal computers.
They just did not see any market for them and could not imagine what those machines should be needed for. None of these large companies anticipated the possibilities of PCs, which are today used in almost every office, in the home, in the school, on airplanes, etc. and can act as typewriters, calculators, accounting systems, telecommunications instruments, libraries, tutors, toys and many the like. So, it was the hobbyists, single electronics wizards who liked tinkering with electronic devices that constructed their own computers as the first PCs. These computer nuts ignited the fire in the valley they launched the personal computer revolution in Silicon Valley out of their own fascination with the technology.
The personal computer arose from a spirit of sharing hard-won technical information with other computer freaks who developed their devices for the fun of tinkering around in this fascinating field of electronics.
Some of these frequently young hobbyists found themselves almost overnight as millionaires, after they had sold their devices in a newly founded firm. Before dealing with the story of Apple, which is typical of Silicon Valley and responsible for the breakthrough of the personal computer, some information about the first PC and the emergence of the PC industry shall be given.