A few days ago, Intel’s top-ranking semiconductor revenue list for more than 20 years announced that it had cut jobs and reduced the number of employees to 12,000, accounting for about 11% of its total workforce. According to reports, this is the biggest layoff in Intel's history. Intel CEO Brian Krzanich said that although this measure is difficult, it is necessary to not only reduce costs, but also to release funds and invest in businesses with more growth potential. Is the Internet of Things business really the true life of Intel? What other business support Intel continues to stand at the top of the semiconductor manufacturers, let's analyze it.
Helplessness in the mobile era
According to reports from Wall Street, Intel CEO Ke Zaiqi said in an internal mail: "We have to say goodbye to some colleagues who have played an important role in Intel's success." The colleagues here believe that it is a great contribution to the Intel PC business. engineer.
Intel is a well-deserved giant in the semiconductor field. Since its inception in 1968, Intel has been in the leading position in the industry after undergoing product changes from SRAM to DRAM to processors. Especially in the field of PC processors, Intel is a unique king.
In 1971, Intel invented the world's first microprocessor, the Intel 4001. The size of the 3mm & TImes; 4mm chip has 16 pins on the outside, 2,300 transistors inside, a five-layer design, the process is 10 microns.
The Intel4004's initial clock speed is 108KHz, the highest clock is 740KHz, it can perform 4-bit operations, supports 8-bit instruction set and 12-bit address set, and uses 10.8 microseconds and 21.6 microseconds. When using a 10.8 microsecond run cycle, it can operate 90,000 times per second at a cost of less than $100.
The performance of the 4004 processor is similar to that of the earlier computer ENIAC. ENIAC was introduced in 1946, and the machine is huge and takes up a room. ENIAC has 18,000 vacuum tubes.
Intel 4004 
ENIAC
Although invented 4004, until 1990, Intel's main business was SRAM and DRAM. Until Japan's DRAM pulled Intel's profit margin down, Intel's CEO, Underdy Grove, put his energy into the CPU field.
Through strong design capabilities and manufacturing process advantages, the rapid growth of personal PCs, Intel's PC processor business is developing at a high speed, and relying on the appeal of the Wintel Alliance and the efforts of AMD and other peers, Intel has begun to Leadership in the semiconductor field for more than 20 years.
The Intel chip under the guidance of TIck-Tock mode has achieved rapid development. Even if you ridicule Intel's toothpaste update, he is the only leader in the industry.
But these have changed since 2007. In that year, Apple released the first smartphone, opening the era of crazy smartphones and smart devices. From the launch of Apple in 2007 to the Android system that was later open source, coupled with the help of Qualcomm, MediaTek, Spreadtrum and other smartphone-based SoCs based on ARM architecture, people's Internet access has shifted from PC to mobile, and PC has faced A crisis that has never been seen before.
According to the latest data from IDC, the global PC (PC) shipments in the fourth quarter of 2015 fell 10.6% year-on-year to 71.9 million units, setting a new record in history. Affected by this, global PC shipments in 2015 also fell 10.4% to 276.2 million units.
The data from another market research firm, Gartner, is slightly “good-lookingâ€. Its statistics show that global PC sales in the fourth quarter of 2015 fell by 8.3% year-on-year, while global sales fell by 8% year-on-year. In the past year, the relevant manufacturers of the PC industry have been “saving the marketâ€, but the actual effect remains to be seen.
Although Intel's overall support in the data center and storage business has not affected the overall revenue, Intel's market expectations have been significantly affected by the erosion of tablets and mobile devices. Especially in the era of rapid rise of intelligent hardware such as the Internet of Things. Intel faced the biggest crisis since its inception.
In the short period of the market turned to mobile devices, Nokia phones sold to Microsoft, Sony's remaining feelings, Texas Instruments' OMAP disappeared on the phone, and the BlackBerry, which was about to embark on the peak, fell sharply. And now it is nervous to Intel.
I have to mention Intel's fainting here. In fact, Intel also had a chip based on ARM long ago, that is Xscale processor, which is the product developed by Intel Corporation starting from ARM v5TE processor, formerly known as StrongARM.
On the basis of the architecture extension, it also retains the backward compatibility with the previous products, so it has been widely used. The XScale processor is mainly used for portable devices such as handheld computers. But in the year before Apple released it, Intel sold it to Marvell, which made people feel sorry.
Will the Internet of Things be Intel's next "processor"?
In fact, as early as around 2012, seeing the rapid development of the mobile field, Intel has already turned its attention to the field of mobile chips, but unlike other manufacturers based on the ARM array approach, Intel has developed a series of mobile SoC based on its X86 architecture. However, due to the compatibility of the chip with the application and the like, Intel could not do it in this block. Even ASUS, which has consistently supported them, has also been transferred to other chip makers. Later, the 3G-R series, which was made by the domestic manufacturer Ruixin, was also a small thunder.
As for the tricks of subsidizing the tablet, I believe that they now have a deep hatred for the manufacturers of Huaqiang North.
In short, Intel is still unable to do anything in the field of mobile processors. So they turned their eyes to the Internet of Things.
As we all know, the Internet of Things is a must for all semiconductor manufacturers. NOKIA, which has withdrawn from the mobile phone field, has recently turned its attention to this field, and Intel wants to use it as its Next Big Thing.
The Internet of Things is undoubtedly worthy of such attention.
Market research firm IDC said it expects the global IoT market to grow from $655.8 billion in 2014 to $1.7 trillion by 2020.
The company expects the number of "IoT endpoints" to increase from 10.3 million in 2014 to more than 29.5 million by 2020. Equipment, connectivity and IT services are expected to constitute the vast majority of the global IoT market, with equipment alone accounting for 31.8% of the total market.
Intel's first product for the IoT market is the Quark SoC X1000.
Quark SoC X1000
This single-chip processor is based on the original Pentium ISA instruction set architecture, 32-bit, single-core, single-threaded, with a maximum frequency of 400MHz, and the manufacturing process is unknown but should be 32nm.
It supports DDR3 ECC memory, PCI-E bus, Ethernet, USB devices, USB Host, SD card, UART, I2C, GPIO, SPI, JTAG, Arduino IDE, and open source Linux operating system.
The specific size and power consumption have not been explained. Intel previously claimed that it is only one-fifth the size of Atom, and its power consumption is only one-tenth, which should be less than 1W.
After that, Intel introduced a variety of IoT-related software and hardware products to help developers.
Intel hardware products and development platform in the field of Internet of Things
Intel claims that if the Internet of Things is going well, then wearable smart products with Intel chips, home automation equipment, and connected cars will be able to work with data center computers by configuring Intel processor network devices. communicate with. Of course, these data center computers will also be equipped with Intel chips, and will use Intel software to analyze the data to ensure data security.
In addition, Intel also announced that Wind River, the so-called embedded system software solution, will provide a pair of operating systems for IoT devices, enabling them to connect to Intel's cloud platform. This cloud platform, in turn, enables devices to have the processing power of cloud computers to better run applications and analyze data.
In addition to providing different hardware, Intel has invested in a number of IoT-related products and supported entrepreneurs through a variety of maker activities to accelerate the layout of the Internet of Things.
At IDF 2016, Intel demonstrated Realsense real-world technology, showcasing drones and robots with Intel cores, and promoting makers' popcorn activities. These are Intel's many attempts for the Internet of Things and hardware only. .
With Intel's accumulation of technology and strong financial strength, it is no difficulty to fight for a place in the Internet of Things. But whether the Internet of Things can become a hero to save Intel like the processor of the year, it is not yet known.
According to personal opinion, in the field of Internet of Things and intelligent hardware, the ARM array has been deeply cultivated for many years, such as Freescale, Atmel and other manufacturers have already established a firm foothold. And many open source development boards such as Arduino and Raspberry Pi also have unlimited potential due to the support of many software and hardware in their open source community. Intel wants to be as unique as the year, I believe that there is no possibility.
But of course, Intel has an absolute advantage in the field of server processors, as well as 3D Xpoint, which was linked to Micron last year, plus data center products. Today's Intel is unlikely to be the same as the collapse of Sun that year. But for the current Intel, the market is good enough to drink a pot.
Many people usually see that when they do different product planning, they will ridicule the PPT experts. However, without these different layouts and long-term vision, a company can't survive, as strong as Intel should always be vigilant.
But whether the Internet of Things with a small thunder and rain is really a life-saving straw, it is really a matter of opinion. Moreover, whether Kochki had the kind of power and influence of Andy Grove in the past and persuaded the board to further reform, this is another issue that needs to be considered.
In addition to the Internet of Things, what else does Intel have?
Although the media and capital circles have always smashed Intel, but from the business data of the first quarter of 2016, the overall performance is still relatively good. The Internet of Things business is also in a steady upward trend. According to the financial report, Intel's first quarter revenue was $13.7 billion, up 7% year-on-year; net profit was $2.046 billion, up 3% year-on-year. Specifically, Intel’s first-quarter revenue was $13.7 billion, up 7% from $12.8 billion in the same period last year, and down 8% from the previous month; net profit was $2.046 billion, up 3% from $1.992 billion in the same period last year. Intel's first-quarter gross profit margin was 59.3%, down 1.2% year-on-year and 5.0% quarter-on-quarter; operating expenses (R&D, general affairs and administration) were US$5.5 billion, up 11% year-on-year and 4% quarter-on-quarter.
Intel expects revenue for the second quarter of fiscal 2016 to be $13.5 billion, operating expenses (R&D, general affairs, and administration) of approximately $5.1 billion, restructuring expenses of approximately $1.2 billion, and stock investment and interest and other impacts of approximately $150 million. US dollars; depreciation expenses are about $1.5 billion.
In addition to the IoT Group, Intel currently has customer computing groups, data center groups, non-fluctuating solution groups, security groups, programmable solution groups and other businesses.
Customer Computing Group's first quarter net revenue was $7.549 billion, compared to $7.420 billion in the same period last year; operating profit was $1.885 billion, compared to $1.411 billion in the same period last year. Among them, platform business revenue was 7.188 billion US dollars, compared with 7.049 billion US dollars in the same period last year; other business revenue was 361 million US dollars, compared with 371 million US dollars in the same period last year.
Data Center Group's first quarter revenue was $3.99 billion, compared to $3.881 billion in the same period last year; operating profit was $1.764 billion, compared to $1,699 million in the same period last year. Among them, platform business revenue was 3.718 billion US dollars, compared with 3.419 billion US dollars in the same period last year; other business revenue was 281 million US dollars, compared with 262 million US dollars in the same period last year.
The Internet of Things Group's first quarter revenue was $651 million, compared to $533 million in the same period last year; operating profit was $123 million, compared to $87 million in the same period last year. Among them, platform business revenue was 571 million US dollars, compared with 462 million US dollars in the same period last year; other business revenue was 80 million US dollars, compared with 71 million US dollars in the same period last year.
Non-Volatility Storage Solutions Group's first-quarter revenue was $557 million, compared to $592 million in the same period last year; operating loss was $95 million, compared with $72 million in operating profit for the same period last year.
Security Group’s first-quarter revenue was $537 million, compared to $479 million in the same period last year; operating profit was $85 million, compared to $15 million in the same period last year.
Programmable Solutions Group revenue for the first quarter was $359 million and operating loss was $200 million.
All other businesses had revenues of $50 million in the first quarter and $76 million in the same period last year; operating losses were $994 million, compared with an operating loss of $669 million in the same period last year.
After the transition to the Internet of Things, Intel will attack the entire IoT equipment industry from the upstream of the chip in the PC era, and strive to grab every territory. Taking the Wintel Alliance, which was the only one in the world at the time, as an example, with the support of Microsoft on WIN10, the source solves the ecological problem. Then add its own platform data and storage business, in the continued development of the Internet of Things will inevitably receive dividends.
The acquired Altera programmable solution will also benefit from services such as high-precision video surveillance and carrier base stations that require large-scale computing in the future.
In the Xeon server field, although the ARM array is in a strong position, it is still difficult to invade Intel's server business in the near future.
In addition, Intel has performed well after acquiring Infineon's baseband business. Recently, it has also entered the Apple iPhone 7 supply chain, as well as its own process manufacturing bonus. Intel will not make too many stuns in the future, and believe that in the future, he will continue to be in the leading position of semiconductors.
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