Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • June 2007 (Revised April 2009)
  • Case
  • HBS Case Collection

Intel 2006: Rising to the Graphics Challenge

By: Willy C. Shih and Elie Ofek
  • Format:Print
  • | Pages:25
ShareBar

Abstract

Examines the evolution of the PC hardware industry over the span of two and a half decades. The open architecture design of the IBM Personal Computer followed by the rapid appearance of clones drove a high level of standardization and modularity in the industry, and value was distributed along the value chain depending on levels of competition and ability to substitute components at each level. On the hardware side two component segments, the microprocessor and the graphics processor unit (GPU), ultimately became the most valuable parts of the chain. The GPU business had settled into a duopoly with Nvidia, Inc. and ATI Technologies (ATI). Intel had dominated the microprocessor segment, but Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) was consistently a thorn in Intel's side. Addresses the prospects of the graphics function becoming integrated with the microprocessor on a single piece of silicon. AMD had just announced the acquisition of ATI and Paul Otellini, Intel's CEO, is faced with the question of what he should do. Should he buy Nvidia, should he continue with his own internal graphics efforts, or should he listen to some of his customers and leave things separate?

Keywords

History; Customer Value and Value Chain; Decision Choices and Conditions; Information Infrastructure; Competitive Strategy; Mergers and Acquisitions; Technology Industry

Citation

Shih, Willy C., and Elie Ofek. "Intel 2006: Rising to the Graphics Challenge." Harvard Business School Case 607-136, June 2007. (Revised April 2009.)
  • Educators
  • Purchase

About The Authors

Willy C. Shih

Technology and Operations Management
→More Publications

Elie Ofek

Marketing
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • January 2023
    • Faculty Research

    Aleph Farms: A New Culture of Meat

    By: Elie Ofek
    • January 2023
    • Faculty Research

    Israelis, Palestinians, and the Technology Bridge Between Them: A Work in Progress

    By: Elie Ofek and Lia Weiner
    • December, 2022
    • Journal of Marketing Research (JMR)

    When and How Should Firms Differentiate? Quality and Advertising Decisions in a Duopoly

    By: Dominique Olié Lauga, Elie Ofek and Zsolt Katona
More from the Authors
  • Aleph Farms: A New Culture of Meat By: Elie Ofek
  • Israelis, Palestinians, and the Technology Bridge Between Them: A Work in Progress By: Elie Ofek and Lia Weiner
  • When and How Should Firms Differentiate? Quality and Advertising Decisions in a Duopoly By: Dominique Olié Lauga, Elie Ofek and Zsolt Katona
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College