A Massive Expansion for Intel Facilities

` Intel corporation has announced recently that it will expand its D1X research fab located in Hillsboro (Seimers, 2012). Intel revealed the project for the first time in 2010 during a conference in a Hillsboro facility. During the conference, they announced that the facility will be Intel's most developed fab (Seimers, 2012). It includes a large room area of around 200,000 square-feet. Moreover, it was decided that the company will name its $6 billion D1X fabs as Mod1 and Mod2. Those two fabs are going to be the nursing home for developing the new generation of chips that won't hit the market before 2020's (Seimers, 2012). In addition, “Intel's announcement will be welcomed by the construction trades, whose work at Ronler Acres will now continue for at least two more years” (Seimers, 2012). it is forecasted that this new project will create a huge number of construction jobs when it starts in 2013 (Seimers, 2012).

The article was written by Erik Siemers, a business journal staff writer for the Portland Business Journal. Also, it is obvious that the writer was following the story for a while now. I find this source credible as the Portland Business Journal is a well known news network. Nevertheless, it provides all the information needed for it to be a credible source. Although the article is very well written and constructed, the author jumps from present to past without a connecting phrase. And this can make it a little confusing for the reader wether its recent or not.

What's interesting in this article is the facts stated. Although Intel is lost it's place in the market, they still have alternate plans. The new fabs will help discover some new technologies that can help the corporation differentiate it self from competitors. Moreover, this article taught me about planning ahead. And this is a very good lesson for my future career goals. It helped understand that sometimes having a plan B can be vital for survival. Also, when I read this article, I asked my self, how fast can this project throw Intel back into the game?

The author doesn't seem to care about who's reading the article. He starts with a vague set of information about the project without talking about it first. Also, the author needs to consider the audience of his work as he states the information ( Locker, Kaczmarek, 20-23).

Work Cited:

Seimers, Erik. "Intel Plans Massive Expansion to $3B D1X Fab." - Portland Business Journal. N.p., 24 Oct. 2012. Web. 26 Oct. 2012. <http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/news/2012/10/24/intel- plans-massive-expansion-to-3b.html>.

Locker, Kitty O., and Stephen Kaczmarek. "Communicating Across Cultures." Business Communication. 5th ed. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 20-23. Print. Building Critical Skills.

PC market declines, intel suffers

Intel chips power more than eighty percent of the world's PCs. Unfortunately, the demand for PCs is decreasing due to the popularity and convenience of tablets and phones. In the article "Intel's Profit Forecast Misses Estimates Amid PC Slump" by Ian King of Bloomberg News, Ian states that "Amid an Economic slump, the PC Market will suffer its first annual decline in more than a decade." This market drastically affects the success of Intel and their products. The gross margin estimate for Intel this year was 61.4 percent but will actually be about 57 percent. The Intel stock (INTC) has declined 7.8 percent this year. "Intel Corp., the world's largest semiconductor maker, forecast fourth-quarter profit margins that missed analysts' estimates as a slump in demand for personal computers eroded profitability." Consumers aren't buying as many PCs, causing slow factory output and many unsold chips. This drastic decline will be the first annual decline in PCs since 2001. "The PC industry is relying on the release this month of a new version of Microsoft Corp.'s flagship Windows operating system- including a version that works on tablets- to help it combat Apple Inc., maker of the iPad." Intel will have to make some serious changes if they want to compete with the rising popularity of apple products and the "Kindle" from Amazon. Cody Acree, an analyst at Williams Financial Group in Dallas said "Even if the economy improves and demand rebounds, Intel risks being left out, because it hasn't yet convinced phone and tablet makers that they need its chips."

The author of this article, Ian King seems very knowledgable about the topic and it's apparent quite a bit of research went into his article. I find this source very credible because Bloomberg is a very popular company featuring business news. Though I think this article is very informative and well written, the author went back and forth discussing the PC market and Intel missing their estimates which could be confusing to the reader at times. The issue was discussed in a formal matter, using some language that I couldn't understand. I had to look up some of the words that were used in this article, it would be hard for someone who knew nothing about business to follow along with this article.

Personally I think this article shows how important it is for your product to always be relevant and needed. When intel first created their chips they probably thought people would be using PCs for a very long time and weren't concerned with demand decreasing. Now we are seeing a huge trend in products like tablets and phones that don't require these chips. I think this article really stresses the importance of innovation and how it's important to always be keeping up with the trends and what's demanded.

I think this article was very organized and to the point. There were headers in the article to help the reader scan through and pick which section of information they'd like to read. I think the author adapted his message to an audience of people who were educated about business. It's good that he focused on one group of people, but bad because people who don't know much about business would most likely be confused in reading this article. The author should have though more about his audience and maybe simplified some of the information like on pages 20-23 of  "Business Communication".

I can't help but question what intel is going to do. If there is no longer going to be a demand or need for their product, how are they going to keep their company afloat? Microsoft is developing programs for tablets, will Intel try to create another product that will boost sales? Though there is still a need for intel's products, I worry there will continue to be a decline in demand.

Work Cited:

King, Ian. "Intel's Profit Forecast Misses Estimates Amid PC Slump." Bloomberg Business Week. Bloomberg , 16 2012. Web. 18 Oct 2012. <http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-10-16/intel-fourth-quarter-sales-forecast-beats-analysts-s-estimates>.

Failure to catch up !!

The research firm iSupply said reported that there will be a decrease in the shipments for Intel's UltraBook. Initially, they expected that it will hit the market with a huge volume of units for the high demand forecasted. However, for the year 2013 the shipments will fall down by around 12 million units, due to the decreasing demand over time for PC's and personal computers. Meanwhile, it's direct competitor, the MacBook Air is bringing some good money for Apple. In addition, “To succeed, IHS said, ultrabooks need to sell for about $600, down from $1,000 now, and have features like touch screens”(Hardy, 2012). For Intel to rise, they have to apply renovation on their products to help catch up with the new market.

The article was retrieved from The New York Times website. It was written by the author and journalist, Quentin Hardy. The author discussed the issue in a realistic matter, with stating issues and supporting them with evidence and solutions to it. Also, I believe that this article is very credible due to the well-known reputation of The New York Times institute. Also, the article had the name of the author and the day and time the article was posted, which gives the credibility needed.

Moreover, it was interesting that the author talked about the computer market and the changes that are happening to it. Also, he mentioned how Intel went from a technology leader to one that is trying to catch up with the advanced market conditions and requirements. Nevertheless, the lesson here is that no company can stay at the top without adapting to the changing customer demand on products and services. As a marketing student, I can relate to this article as it's my goal to work in company and help prevent such unfortunate happenings. In addition, one question comes to mind; how fast should Intel re-innovate their products to catch up with the market?

Also, the article was related to class in building blocks for effective messages. The author used efficiency, directness, and action as values in the cultural contrasts, which is directed for U.S. audiences( Locker, Kaczmarek, 49-50).

Sources:

 Hardy, Quentin. "Ultrabooks Still Fail to Catch On." Bits Blog. N.p., 01 Oct. 2012. Web. 18 Oct. 2012. <http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/01/ultrabooks-still-fail-to-catch-on/?ref=intelcorporation>.

Locker, Kitty O., and Stephen Kaczmarek. "Communicating Across Cultures." Business Communication. 5th ed. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 49-50. Print. Building Critical Skills.