Intel’s CEO, Kissinger, has retired and is no longer serving as CEO of the company.
However, this retirement was clearly not voluntary. Currently, Intel has yet to find a new CEO and has forced him out, which is clearly because, during his four-year tenure, he led Intel to disastrous results. The board couldn’t tolerate it anymore and decided to let him go.
Statistics show that during his tenure, Intel’s market value dropped by $150 billion (over 1 trillion RMB), making him the CEO who had the most significant negative impact on Intel’s market value in history.
Additionally, during his tenure, in Q3 of 2024, Intel reported a quarterly loss of $16.6 billion (about 118.2 billion RMB), the largest single-quarter loss in Intel’s 56-year history.
Having set two such records, it’s no wonder the board couldn’t bear him any longer. They rushed to oust him, even though they hadn’t found a successor yet.
According to Kissinger’s plan, Intel was supposed to be split up next, and if they hadn’t forced him out now, Intel would have been in even worse shape.
In fact, the current mess at Intel, in my view, is the result of the chaotic management under four consecutive CEOs. On the surface, it appeared they were making bold moves, but when you look at the results and the market, their operations only led to further decline.
The four CEOs started with Paul Otellini in 2005, during which the smartphone era arrived. Intel, the king of CPUs, missed the mobile chip revolution, allowing companies like Qualcomm and MediaTek to rise, while Intel clung to PC chips and failed to seize the opportunity in mobile chips.
Paul Otellini served for eight years, and in 2013, he was replaced by Brian Krzanich. During his five-year tenure, the chip manufacturing process reached a high point, with TSMC advancing from 28nm to 7nm.
However, Intel only advanced from 28nm to 14nm, spending several generations refining it. Intel also set its sights on drones, wearables, and other chip markets but didn’t achieve much, falling behind in the core chip business.
In 2018, Bob Swan took over as CEO. His major move was to cut the 5G baseband chip business, believing that Intel didn’t need to continue with communication chips. But despite the delay in the 7nm process, TSMC had already entered the 5nm stage.
Eventually, Apple stopped using Intel’s x86 chips and switched to its own M chips. Additionally, Intel didn’t see the potential of AI, passing up on investing in OpenAI, missing out on a huge opportunity in AI.
Finally, in 2021, Kissinger took the helm. He proposed the IDM 2.0 plan, which focused on chip manufacturing and entering the foundry business, aiming to not only make chips for Intel but also for customers, competing with TSMC and Samsung.
As a result, in the past four years, Intel lost over 120 billion RMB in the foundry business, and it remains a bottomless pit, with predictions that it may lose another 150 to 200 billion RMB before it can break even.
At the same time, Intel’s chip manufacturing technology has not caught up with TSMC or Samsung. Despite loud slogans, Intel’s capabilities have been lagging.
In the end, Intel suffered huge losses, and its market value plummeted. Even Qualcomm and Broadcom showed interest in acquiring Intel. This left Intel’s reputation in tatters.
Therefore, the board had no choice but to let Kissinger go, officially claiming he retired, giving him a bit of face. Many outside the company are speculating that Liwu Chen might become the new CEO. Liwu Chen, a Chinese-American, has served on the board of SMIC.
However, some doubt this possibility, as Intel’s past CEOs have all been locals, and it seems unlikely they would appoint a Chinese CEO. Regardless, whoever takes over will face immense pressure to save Intel from its current predicament.
Related:
- Intel CEO Resigns and Retires from Board, Breaking News
- Why Semiconductor CEOs Are Older, Internet CEOs Younger
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