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by ekeane 555 days ago
Intel has a habit of coming up with great ideas, then deciding that they aren't immediately successful or immediately 60+% gross margins, so it clearly isn't worth following up. Intel's R&D department is a grave yard of great products murdered at the alter of Gross Margin.

Larrabee is one such product. It wasn't immediately great, and didn't immediately promise great returns, and didn't quite have a market yet, so it was killed. I can't imagine where Intel would be in the AI world if they had the foresight to stick with Larrabee.
1 comments
brookst 555 days ago
Yep. Intel has no patience. They have high margin businesses throwing off lots of cash, so the finance-driven culture says “why waste money on risky new things that can’t possibly equal that level of profitability in the short term?”

Somehow they forgot that all of their highly profitably businesses were risky bets at one time.

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josephg 555 days ago
Right. Google has the same problem. Any time they create a new product, it’s a coin flip on whether or not it’ll still be around in a year or two. I’ve steered multiple companies away from Google’s offerings because I just don’t think you should trust that any of their newer products will still be around in 5-10 years.

Good on them for sticking with their promises for firebase. But it’s a pity about stadia. Don’t bet your business on a flip of the Google coin.

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bjornsing 555 days ago
> Somehow they forgot that all of their highly profitably businesses were risky bets at one time.

And that all of their highly profitable businesses are risky bets long term.

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