Disruptive Forces: Intel

Intel

Location: Santa Clara, Calif.

CEO: Paul Otelini

Revenues: $38.3 billion

What they do: Microprocessors, plain and simple

Disruptive qualities: Think small, as in 32 nanometers. Intel is pushing the absolute boundaries of chip production by threatening to stuff 4 million transistors in a space roughly the size of the period that ends this sentence. Already in the lead in 45nm chip production, Intel?s insistence on perpetuating Moore?s Law could mean that by the end of this decade, we?ll be packing a data center?s worth of computing power onto a single chip that sips as much energy as a common lightbulb.

The tech that makes them tick: Intel says it improved innovation partly by setting its 100,000 employees free. The company embarked on one of the world?s largest mobile computing efforts, spending $25 million over five years to free 85 percent of its users from the desktop. According to CIO John Johnson, Intel gets two more hours of productivity per week from each of its 85,000 laptop users, a 5 percent improvement over their desk-bound colleagues.

Who they are disrupting: Intel wrestles with traditional competitors such as AMD, IBM and Sun, as well as with any company delivering a device with a chip in it. Read: everyone.

Return to the list of DISRUPTIVE COMPANIES