Why Intel should make chips for Apple, Cisco

Rick Merritt, EETimes
12/3/2012 1:45 PM EST

SAN JOSE – To use Andy Grove’s well-worn phrase, Intel Corp. is at an inflection point. It’s time for the company to re-think what it wants to be in the next phase of its life.

One of its options is to strategically pivot. For years, Intel has led with an identity as a microprocessor designer that has great chip-making capabilities. Maybe it’s time to lead with its left foot. Intel could be one heck of a foundry that happens to have its own line of very successful products.

Face it, the market has shifted from the desktops Intel dominates to tablets and smartphones where it barely participates. But world-class semiconductor manufacturing is as valuable as ever, even as Moore’s Law slows.

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