Intel Corp is an American company famed for making semiconductor chips, microprocessors, network interface controllers, flash memories,

graphic chips and other components found in many computers and mobile phones. The company is valued at more than US$ 54 billion and employs more than 100,000 people (Intel Corp., 2012).

ANALYSIS OF INTEL CORPORATION USING THE PORTERS 5 FORCES MODEL

The first of the five forces affecting Intel Corps business is supplier power. The basic material used to make semiconductors is silicon which is a constituent of sand and is abundant in nature. Suppliers cannot alter the prices of this primary commodity to significantly influence Intel Corps business because the company can afford to have several suppliers. Other suppliers provide the metallization required between the silicon layers and the plastics for the packaging of the fully manufactured processors. These tool are abundant and Intel Coro can afford to have several suppliers at considerable prices. The competition rivalry is another force that affects businesses. Intel Corp continues to enjoy large market shares with minimal competition. In 2011, the company commanded 79.3% of the PC processors market and 84.4% of the of the mobile PC microprocessors. These figures were however indicative of 2% drops from the first quarter of the year (Intel Corp., 2012). The decline in market share could be attributed to increased competition from companies such as Toshiba, Samsung, Texas instruments, STMicroelectronics among others. These companies sell their products at reduced prices and conduct aggressive marketing. Competition is therefore one of Intel Corps biggest challenges in their quest to retain and increase their market share.

Buyers power is the third force that impacts on businesses . Buyers of Intel Corps products include computer and mobile phones manufacturing companies such as HP, Dell, Samsung, Acers, Nokia, and Alcatel among others. The diversity of its buyers is advantageous to Intel Corp because it makes it hard for them to set or demand for their own prices. However, several of these companies such as Samsung and Toshiba are now making their own processors and can therefore demand for lower prices and set the terms of business for Intel Corp. This is because they have several suppliers for the same products Intel Corp is providing. The fourth force affecting businesses is the threat from substitutions . Currently, computers and other technological devices are principally reliant on processors to function meaning that the threat of substitutions to Intel Corps business is minimal. However, recent advancements in technology could usher into the electronics market other improved devices that may become threats to the current processors. The five force affecting Intel Corp is the threat of new entry products. In the wake of meteoric advancements on the technological front, the threat of new products to compete with Intel Corps products is rife. The biggest threat comes from counterfeit processors that damage the reputation and business function of Intel Corp. Intel being the market leader suffers the risk of being attractive to counterfeits who introduce new and ineffective products to the detriment of Intel Corp.

STRATEGIC GROUPS
Symantec and Intels joint strategic alliance runs across many groups and disciplines. It includes cooperation in development, thought leadership, industry solutions, marketing and sales. Together, this partnership delivers solutions that can directly address todays IT business issues and help individuals and organizations to prepare for the future. From manageability and security to endpoint virtualization and data protection, these benefits from optimized hardware and software help increase productivity, reduce costs, and streamline IT management. Intel IT is engaged in developing a broad, ongoing sustainability strategy to help Intel consume fewer resources and emit less waste. In analyzing the business case for IT sustainability, we identified the bottom-line benefits and defined the metrics that enabled us to effectively reduce our environmental footprint. Intel IT is focused on developing sustainable practices that will allow us to lower our resource consumption and produce less waste while saving resources throughout the company.

TO DEVELOP SUSTAINABLE IT PRACTICES ENCOMPASSED:

Establishing a roadmap and baselines. Addressing consumption and waste. Setting challenging goals. Redesigning our business processes. Encouraging participation.

INTEL IT STRATEGIC PLANNING: ALIGNING IT WITH BUSINESS

Intel IT has developed and implemented a new approach to strategic planning that better aligns our activities with those of the corporate business groups. By involving business groups in our planning process, integrating the process with the corporate planning calendar, and refreshing our plans frequently enough to keep pace with rapid changes in the industry, we can stay ahead of the technology curve and at the same time achieve the highest return possible on every initiative and focus area. We can also position ourselves to better support our internal customers and focus our limited resources on the right investments.

MANAGEABILITY - ACTIVATE FOR ADVANTAGE

Symantec and Intel boost efficiency while keep costs down by jointly activating Intel vPro technology-based PCs using Symantec's Altiris Client Management Suite (CMS). Intel vPro technology and Symantecs CMS reduce the effort required to manage an organizations fleet and deliver bottom-line benefits: Conduct hardware/software inventory up to 94% faster per PC Reduce the need for hardware/software desk-side visits by up to 56%.

Speed patch saturation by up to 56%.

Endpoint Virtualization - Application Management Optimized

This Intel and Symantec solution allows IT organizations to: Streamline license maintenance know who uses each application, how often, and for how long. Ensure complete application streaming for users outside the corporate network. Remotely check device availability, reboot, or re-provision, even if the system is inoperative. Quickly reclaim licenses from machines that have been turned off, even if the PC is off the network.

SECURITY - DELIVERING SECURITY THROUGH INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES

Symantec and Intel bring security solutions to customers who need to protect the PCs they manage. Intel provides powerful and unique security options at the hardware level with PCs powered by Intel Core2 and Intel Centrino processors with vPro technology. Symantec software, combined with Intel hardware, delivers additional security enhancements in PC management, backup and recovery, and availability. This provides comprehensive protection of business interactions, critical information, and IT infrastructure in security, endpoint, messaging and application management.

Sustainable Green IT
Symantec and Intel promote and provide the use of energy efficient hardware, software, services, and best practices that reduce environmental impact by enabling IT to run more efficiently, conserve power, and cut energy costs:

ANALYSIS OF MACRO ENVIRONMENT

A political, economic, social and technological (PEST) analysis would show how the external environment of the Intel firm has managed to affect the company developments.

Political ~ In the semiconductor industry, competition regulation is low and

corporate and individual taxes are major considerations. Further, due to the increasing internalization of semiconductor firms, they are being subject to international trade regulations and consumer protection has also become a major consideration. This has further affected the potential entrants to the industry, and has led to Intel focusing on having their research and development on environmental management to protect their consumers.

Economic ~ The economic growth of target market is fairly positive, in the

semiconductors industry case; the target market is the electronics industry. Industry growth is very promising and, coupled with exchange rates being relatively stable, promises a wealth of opportunities for those who are already established in this industry. With the increased pace in the change in technology spurred by more need for higher and more advanced technology, the demand for the semiconductor industry is stronger than ever. This presented a whole avenue of possibility for Intel to develop their products at a rate which will keep up with the demands of the market.

Social ~ Even income distribution among target market is observed in this

industry and main consumers are large companies. As the nature of the industry in which Intel is involved in is a very dynamic nature where change and innovation are everyday words, there exists the need to constantly be sensitive to the change in market demands and preferences, as it is the key to maintaining market leadership in this type of industry.

Technological ~ A very fast technological transfer and a very fast rate of

technological obsolescence is a characteristic of the industry. A unique aspect of the semiconductor industry is that prices for products tend to decrease over time. Not only does the price fall for a given integrated circuit, but as the complexity of the chip increases, the price per electronics function decreases from product generation to generation as more and more functions are integrated into a single structure. This phenomenal increase in industry productivity is the driving force that has made semiconductor electronics the technology of choice for all control and computing applications.

There are two reasons why the cost of this technology consistently drops: first, the broad applicability of semiconductor devices leads to a phenomenally elastic market, so that decreases in cost are more than balanced by increases in the total unit demand. The total market continues to grow in dollars despite the fact that the products are falling rapidly in price. Second, because of the unique nature of the technology, by making things smaller the speed of the circuits increases power consumption drops, system reliability increases significantly, and, most importantly, the cost of the electronic system drops. By making things smaller, development density is increased. More function can be built on a given area, causing the price of electronic functions to be cheaper and cheaper. Technology evolves so rapidly that the market moves to the next generation or beyond. Thus, to be successful it is necessary to continue investing in new products even during these down periods. Intel did this. In the following phase, the case showed aggressive moves on the part of the firm.

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