Intel’s Strategic Missteps Lead to Fall from Semiconductor Top 10
Intel has officially dropped out of the global top 10 semiconductor rankings, a stark decline for a company once synonymous with chip dominance. CEO Lip-Bu Tan openly acknowledged strategic errors during an internal Q&A, including the infamous decision to pass on supplying chips for the original iPhone—a misstep that allowed Qualcomm and ARM to dominate the mobile revolution.
The company's $16 billion loss and sweeping layoffs underscore the urgency of its pivot toward edge computing and agentic AI. Once an industry titan, Intel now faces existential relevance in a market reshaped by AI and agile competitors. Tan's candor highlights both the depth of past miscalculations and the high stakes of its current reinvention.