Moreover, Microsoft began developing operating systems compatible with successive generations of microprocessor technology.
Reduced Instruction Set Computing (RISC) processors posed a brief threat to Intel's glowing successes during the 1980s. Instead of buckling under the pressure to create a RISC-like microprocessor to compete in the enterprise market, Intel instead revitalized its own proprietary x86 microprocessor technology. Just as Intel had chosen early on to specialize in microprocessors, and just as Intel opted for a horizontal integration strategy for marketing, manufacturing, and distribution, Intel also chose to keep investing in their core strength. After AMD was granted rights to manufacture clone microprocessors, Intel answered by aggressive R&D campaigns for the next generation of microprocessors. Finally, Intel sustained its competitive advantage via a consumer (OEM)-oriented marketing campaign using the slogan "Intel Inside."
3-Why did it not succeed in DRAMs?
When Intel still faced major competition from Motorola, a company that had landed a lucrative and long-term contract with Apple, Intel was forced to investigate new ways of marketing both their microprocessors and their...
Japan had gained a nearly crushing lead in the DRAM manufacturing process technology and so Intel would have had to channel large sums of money into acquiring DRAM process technologies to keep up. Intel did not succeed in DRAMS not because it failed but because it never sincerely tried.
Intel chose to succeed in the world of microprocessors instead of the world of DRAM. The company made a choice that would impact them for years, propelling Intel into market dominance. The decision to "halt further development of a 1M DRAM chip was a risky one (p. 5). The 1 megabit DRAM chip was four times faster than any DRAM existing on the market. Walking away from what might have led to a considerable market gain over the Japanese DRAM manufacturers might have seemed foolish in 1984 but proved to be one of the keys to Intel's success with microprocessors. In 1985, Intel took stock and realized that manufacturing DRAM was already a losing proposition: eating up one-third of Intel's research and development expenditures but yielding only five percent of revenues. Intel did not succeed in DRAMS early on because of Japanese footholds in the process technology, and that would be a blessing in…
