Читайте данную работу прямо на сайте или скачайте

Скачайте в формате документа WORD


История развития компьютеров (Silicon Valley, its history & the best companies)


StudentТs report

On Economics

by Constantine Nikitin


Contents

TOC \o "1-3" \h \z Silicon Valley - what is that?. 3

Stanford University. 3

Hewlett Packard - the garage myth. 5

HP: Foundation and first years. 5

The rise of HP up to the present 6

The HP Way - an example of corporate culture for a whole industry. 7

HP today. 7

The rise of Silicon Valley. 10

Invention of the transistor 10

Shockley Semiconductor 11

Importance of military funding. 12

Intel Corp. 13

Foundation in 1968. 13

First products - Moore's Law.. 13

"Ted" Hoff's first microprocessor 14

Cooperation with IBM in the 1980s. 15

Intel today. 16

The emergence of the PC industry. 17

Altair - the first PC.. 18

The first computer shops. 19

Homebrew Computer Club. 19

The Apple Story. 19

"Woz" and Jobs - the two "Steves". 19

The first Apple. 20

Building up the company. 21

Apple II - starting the personal computer boom.. 22

Turbulences in the early 1980s. 23

The Lisa project 23

The Macintosh revolution. 24

John Sculley and Steve Jobs. 25

Apple today. 27



Intelо Architecture platform products Microprocessors, also called central processing units (CPUs) or chips, are frequently described as the "brains" of a computer, because they control the central processing of data in personal computers (PCs), servers, workstations and other computers. Intel offers microprocessors optimized for each segment of the computing market:

Intelо Pentiumо XeonЩ processors for mid-range to high-end servers and workstations

Intelо Pentiumо 4 and Pentiumо processors for entry-level servers and workstations and performance desktop PCs

Intelо CeleronЩ processors for value PC systems

Mobile Pentiumо processors for performance in mobile PC systems

Chipsets perform essential logic functions surrounding the CPU in computers, and support and extend the graphics, video and other capabilities of many Intel processor-based systems.

Motherboards combine Intel microprocessors and chipsets to form the basic subsystem of a PC or server.

e-Business solutions enable services and channel programs to accelerate integration and deployment of Intel Architecture-based systems and products.

Wireless communications and computing products These products are component-level hardware and software focusing on digital cellular communications and other applications needing both low-power processing and high performance. These products are used in mobile phones, handheld devices, two-way pagers and many other products. For these markets, Intel offers Intelо Flash memory, application processors based on the Intelо StrongARM processor core, and base band chipsets for cellular phones and other wireless devices.

Networking and communications products Communications building blocks for next-generation networks and Internet data centers are offered at various levels of integration. These products are used in communications servers, network appliances and computer telephony integration equipment.

Component-level building blocks include communications silicon such as network processors and other board-level components, software and embedded control chips. These products are integrated in communications hardware such as hubs, routers, switches and servers for local and wide area networking applications. Embedded control chips are also used in laser printers, imaging, automotive systems and other applications.

New business products These products and services include e-Commerce data center services as well as connected peripherals.

Intel's major customers include:

Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) of computer systems, cellular phone and handheld computing devices, telecommunications and networking communications equipment, and peripherals.

Users of PC and network communications products including individuals, large and small businesses, and Internet service providersЧwho buy Intel's PC enhancements, business communications products and networking products through reseller, retail, e-Business and OEM channels.

Other manufacturers including makers of a wide range of industrial and communications equipment.

John Sculley and Steve Jobs

Despite the astonishing figures of sold Macintosh computers and a boost in sales to more than $1.5 billion in 1984 (up 55% from 1983),) Apple soon fell into its most severe crisis, which would only be overcome by Sculley's hard measures and led to the firing of its visionary Steve Jobs.

John Sculley had been vice-president at PepsiCo where he had successfully made Pepsi the number one brand in the Cola Wars. Actually, there was no reason for him, one of America's top managers with a secure and highly paid position at PepsiCo, to join a bunch of young computer nerds at the West coast. The reason why he finally agreed yet is Steve Jobs who impressed him by his visionary ideas and asked him a question to which he did have no answer: "Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water or do you want a chance to change the world?") This question told him that his "entire life was at a critical crossroads.")

Sculley and Jobs became close friends. They could "complete each other's sentences" because they "were on the same wavelength.") The "dynamic duo", as they were called in an issue of Business Week in October 1983, was esteemed highly in the press and contributed significantly to Apple's good reputation in the public at the time.

The downfall came soon, however, when their largely overestimated expectations of the Macintosh sales could not be met. In their euphoria about the revolutionary Mac, they thought they would ship 80, units by the end of 1984, and had produced them in advance. When the reality brought "merely" 20, with a falling tendency, the crisis was evident. Reasons for that decline were that the Macintosh was not as "perfect" as expected - with its 128 KByte RAM (they were then mounted to 512 KB) it was not powerful enough, and there were hardly any software applications available yet. Moreover, at the 1985 annual meeting, Jobs and Sculley neglected the fact that 70 percent of the company's sales were still due to the Apple II, whereas the Macintosh accounted for only 30 percent. Many sophisticated Apple II designers were annoyed and left the company.

Steve Jobs became more and more angry and aggressive because of the continuing drop in Macintosh sales (merely 2,500 units in March 1985).) He blamed everyone for it, except for himself. Steve just did not see that the "problem was with him.") In the end, he blamed even Sculley for the crisis and wanted to lead the company himself. But this seemed impossible to everyone else: "Steve was a big thinker, an inspirational motivator, but not a day-to-day manager. What was sad was that he could not see it.")

When Sculley was informed that Jobs intended to remove him insidiously from the company, he was quite concerned, but then decided to choose the company's welfare over his friendship to its visionary co-founder. Supported by Markkula and the other members of the board, in May 1985, he dismissed Steve from his positions as the vice-president and as the leader of the Macintosh division; Jobs did not have any managerial power anymore.

Steve Jobs was quite depressed and made trips to Europe and the Soviet Union. Finally, he decided to leave Apple in December 1985, and sold all his Apple shares. He took along some of the best employees to start his new venture - NeXT. He intended to design a workstation for the university sector. In February 1987, billionaire Ross Perot invested $20 million for 16 percent of NeXT. The new computer was introduced to the public in October 1988, priced at $6,.

At Apple, John Sculley took several measures to save the company, which had become chaotic. In the course of a major reorganization he dismissed 1,200 employees (20% of the total workforce) and put the broken parts of the company together to form one unified Apple. His restructuring saved a lot of costs and consolidated the company.

1986 was Apple's worst year with a decline in net sales from $1.92 (1985) to $1.90 billion. Gradually, Sculley could persuade software companies, which had turned away from Apple, to write applications for the Macintosh.

Apple found its new market in desktop publishing (DTP), for which the Macintosh was predestined. By the time, the Macintosh became a serious tool for the business market and its sales increased again.

Until today, Apple has grown steadily and now reaches net sales of more than $7 billion. Although the Macintosh lost the battle against Big Blue, today it is a successful product and was sold over 2.5 million timed. By the time, the Macintosh became a serious tool for the business market and its sales increased again.

Until today, Apple has grown steadily and now reaches net sales of more than $7 billion. Although the Macintosh lost the battle against Big Blue, today it is a successful product and was sold over 2.5 million times worldwide in 1992. Apple remains the second-biggest personal computer manufacturer after IBM and has released innovative products such as QuickTime, an easy to use multimedia software combining sound, video and animation. Its latest development is Newton, a personal digital assistant (PDA), which serves as an electronic notepad and "integrates advanced hand-writing recognition, communication and data-management technologies.")

Apple today.

CUPERTINO, CaliforniaЧDecember 5, ЧAppleо today announced that it has experienced significantly slower than expected sales during October and November, which will result in revenues and earnings for its quarter ending December 30, 2 being substantially below expectations.

The company expects to report revenue of about $1 billion and a net loss, excluding investment gains, of between $225 and $250 million.

The $600 million revenue shortfall from previous expectations is due to lower than expected channel sell-through across all geographies and unplanned sales promotions and pricing actions. The net loss is the result of the revenue shortfall and cancellation charges related to decreases in forecasted component purchases for current products.

УThe swift industry-wide decline in PC sales will result in AppleТs first non-profitable quarter in three years,Ф said AppleТs CEO Steve Jobs. УWeТre not happy about it, and plan to return to sustained profitability next quarter. We are committed to reducing our channel inventories to normal levels by the end of this quarter, and remain very excited about the new products and programs Apple will be rolling out in 2001.Ф

УIn light of the lower results anticipated for the December quarter, we now expect revenues for fiscal 2001 to be in the $6 to $6.5 billion range,Ф said AppleТs CFO Fred Anderson.