Intel

Intel is a multinational technology corporation that manufactures computer parts, including microprocessors and semiconductor chips, the latter of which Intel is one of the world's biggest manufacturers measured by revenue. Intel has become a leading company in its field since its founding and sells its parts to computer manufacturers as well as PC and network communications product users, including individuals.

Intel was first established as NM Electronics, founded in July 1968 by Gordon Moore and Robert Noyce in Mountain View, California. The name was soon changed to Intel, a portmanteau of the words "integrated" and "electronics." Intel began its business producing semiconductor devices with an aim to become a breakthrough company in the market of semiconductor memory products. Over Intel's first few years, it released several new semiconductor memory chips, beginning with the 3101 Schottky TTL bipolar 64-bit static random-access memory (SRAM) chip in 1969. Intel released two more chips that same year. In 1971, Intel began creating other computer parts and released its first microprocessor, the Intel 4004, which was among the first microprocessors commercially available in the market. Intel's business model remained heavily focused on the semiconductor market until the 1980s, when other semiconductor manufacturers began to catch up to Intel's production capabilities. This further spurred Intel's interest in the computer market.

Intel began to expand its computer part offerings at a much greater rate in the 1990s. It launched a successful ad campaign called "Intel Inside," which helped push the company to over $1 billion in annual net income in 1992, the highest recorded year yet. With the release of Intel's fifth-generation Pentium processor in 1993, the company's annual revenue increased over 50 percent from the previous year. The successful release led to Intel producing and selling chipsets and motherboards to sell for other companies to build Pentium-based PCs. In 2006, Intel launched the Core 2 Duo dual processor, a more advanced processor than the Pentium. Intel released its new line of microprocessors, called Intel Atom, in 2008. Intel has continued to produce new microprocessors and CPUs through the 2010s and 2020s.

In September 2020, Intel changed its long-standing logo, changing the text color from blue to black and removing its characteristic circle.

Intel has released several product types over the years, including CPUs, microprocessors, chipsets, and motherboards. In 2022, Intel's available products fall into the categories of processors, server products, Intel® NUC, wireless network chips, ethernet products, chipsets, memory and storage, Intel® FPGAs, and Intel® eASIC™. Intel has become one of the top producers of semiconductors worldwide, based on revenue. Intel does not officially state its business customers due to its privacy policy, but sells parts to various computer manufacturers, telecommunication companies, individual network and product users, and others.

Intel has an extensive history of antitrust lawsuits, beginning in December 1990 when Cyrix, a microprocessor producer, stated that Intel "engaged in a campaign of unlawful exclusionary practices to protect its coprocessor monopoly from competition by Cyrix." However, Cyrix dismissed the lawsuit in February 1994. In June 1991, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) began an investigation into Intel's business practices. AMD sued Intel for $2 billion in August of that year, citing Intel's engagement in "unlawful acts designed to secure and maintain a monopoly." Some of the listed acts were rejected by a reviewing judge due to a four-year statute of limitations. The case was ultimately settled in January 1995. In May 1992, Intel was faced with another antitrust lawsuit, this time from the company Chips and Technologies, a processor maker; this lawsuit was filed as a response to Intel's initial lawsuit for a patent against Chips and Technologies in 1992. Both companies settled the suit in early 1993. The FTC also concluded its investigation into Intel's business practices that year in July, stating it found no evidence of "anticompetitive behavior."

In September 1997, the FTC began a second antitrust investigation into Intel, after the company announced plans to acquire Chips and Technologies. The FTC issued an antitrust ruling against Intel in June 1998 after finding that Intel had ceased to provide important information about its products to the companies of Digital Equipment, Compaq Computer, and Intergraph, after they had pursued legal action against Intel in regard to enforcing its microprocessor patents. Intel and the FTC came to a settlement in 1999, and the investigation was concluded in 2000.

On April 8, 2004, Intel's Japanese subsidiary was raided by the Fair Trade Commission of Japan (JFTC) as part of an investigation. Nearly a year later, on March 8, 2005, the JFTC ruled that Intel had violated Japan's antitrust laws. Intel disputed the findings but agreed to cease certain business practices that were deemed violations. AMD filed additional lawsuits against Intel in June 2005, this time with allegations of anticompetitve behavior in multiple countries; a lawsuit was pursued in both the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, the Tokyo High Court, and the Tokyo District Court. The cases from AMD were finally settled in November 2009 after Intel agreed to pay $1.25 billion.

In February 2006, Intel's South Korean office was raided by the Korean Fair Trade Commission (KFTC). Preliminary charges against Intel were announced in September 2007 during the course of the investigation. Intel was faced with another antitrust lawsuit from the European Commission in July 2007; as a result, its Munïch office was raided in February 2008. The European Commission announced additional charges in July 2008 for alleged "abuse of dominant position" and found the company guilty in May 2009. As a result, Intel was fined $1.44 billion, which it appealed. In January 2022, the case was overturned after a legal battle lasting over a decade when the European Union General Court ruled that the evidence first used against Intel had not all been properly checked.

In January 2008, the New York State Attorney General (Andrew Cuomo at the time) launched an antitrust investigation of Intel, concerning its pricing and alleged attempts of market domination. The FTC served the company with a subpoena in June 2008. Cuomo filed a federal lawsuit against Intel in November 2009, as did the FTC in December. The FTC's new lawsuit was settled in August 2010. The lawsuit brought on by Cuomo was settled in February 2012 for $6.5 million.