Intel CEO regrets turning down iPhone

Posted on Friday, May 17 2013 @ 13:39 CEST by Thomas De Maesschalck
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In an interview with The Atlantic, outgoing Intel CEO Paul Otellini revealed that one of his regrets is that he passed up the opportunity to have Intel silicon inside the original iPhone. Otelini says Intel grossly underestimated the volume that the iPhone would sell and claims he should have followed his gut rather than rely on the forecasted data:
A squabble over pricing apparently led Otellini to back off, steering Apple right toward the ARM-powered competition.

Here's what happened, in Otellini's words:

We ended up not winning it or passing on it, depending on how you want to view it. And the world would have been a lot different if we'd done it . . . The thing you have to remember is that this was before the iPhone was introduced and no one knew what the iPhone would do... At the end of the day, there was a chip that they were interested in that they wanted to pay a certain price for and not a nickel more and that price was below our forecasted cost. I couldn't see it. It wasn't one of these things you can make up on volume. And in hindsight, the forecasted cost was wrong and the volume was 100x what anyone thought.

The Atlantic says Otellini expressed visible regret when telling the story. The retiring Intel chief lamented that he should have followed his gut and not the data alone. "My gut told me to say yes," he told the paper.
Source: The Tech Report


About the Author

Thomas De Maesschalck

Thomas has been messing with computer since early childhood and firmly believes the Internet is the best thing since sliced bread. Enjoys playing with new tech, is fascinated by science, and passionate about financial markets. When not behind a computer, he can be found with running shoes on or lifting heavy weights in the weight room.



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