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Intel may not Survive Another Bad CEO Verdict

Intel may not Survive Another Bad CEO Verdict

By Bolaji Ojo

What’s at stake:

Patrick Gelsinger’s tenure as CEO is behind Intel Corp.. For his successor, Lip-Bu Tan, though, a review and study of his predecessor’s actions, successes and missteps could be instructive. Avoiding Gelsinger’s errors – in targets set for himself and employees as well as promises to investors and workers – can help Tan avoid Gelsinger’s fate, which would plunge Intel into a hole it cannot recover from.

Today is Lip-Bu Tan’s second day at Intel Corp. as CEO. He should be under no illusions about the task he has accepted and what the main charge from the board of directors would have been: to raise Intel’s market value.

If Intel didn’t state it so clearly while considering Tan for the job, the semiconductor industry veteran would surely have deduced this himself from his immediate predecessor’s fate.

Many analysts and observers, including the Ojo-Yoshida Report earlier this week, have raised the question of whether the new CEO should keep Intel intact or spin off the foundry operation. The subject is important, but it must represent only a minor factor, considered only as a first step towards the achievement of a grander and more relevant objective, which is that the market must like Tan’s actions enough to respond by elevating the company’s market capitalization.

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Lip-Bu Tan must split up Intel

Lip-Bu Tan must split up Intel 

By Peter Clarke  

What’s at stake:

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s Lip-Bu Tan coming to save struggling chip giant Intel Corp. But how? Whatever incoming CEO Tan has communicated to Intel employees, the company’s future cannot be business as usual. One possibility is that Tan was asked by the board if he is the CEO to execute on the existing ‘product-plus-foundry’ strategy and he said “Yes.” I doubt it. It is more likely Tan told the board he would only accept the role if he had complete freedom to operate, including the option to divest Intel’s manufacturing operations. Indeed, the fate of Intel’s manufacturing arm may have been decided even before Tan came on-board.  

Veteran semiconductor executive Lip-Bu Tan has accepted the position of CEO at Intel Corp and is re-joining the board of directors after a six-month absence.  

The highly-regarded Tan now comes back as the permanent CEO to replace Pat Gelsinger, who was ousted in December 2024. The financial markets clearly approved as on the news of Tan’s appointment Intel’s languishing share price popped by 12 percent. 

Since the announcement of Tan’s appointment, many observers have picked up on a sentence in Tan’s message to Intel employees. He said: “Together, we will work hard to restore Intel’s position as a world-class products company, establish ourselves as a world-class foundry, and delight our customers like never before.” This has been taken as evidence that the ‘product-plus-foundry’ strategy continues at Intel.

I think that is a naïve reading of the situation. There is other evidence to consider. 

Read More »Lip-Bu Tan must split up Intel 
The Lip-Bu Tan Story, as Narrated by Lip-Bu Tan

Memo to Intel’s Incoming CEO: Fill the Fabs

By Bolaji Ojo

Intel Corp.’s next CEO will assume office next week, replacing the interim co-CEOs appointed months ago. At the Ojo-Yoshida Report, we welcome the appointment of Lip-Bu Tan, a semiconductor and EDA market veteran, as the new CEO.

We will be rooting for Mr. Tan. We also believe the rest of the industry should be cheering him on and assist in whichever way they can in his efforts to revitalize Intel. Tan has a formidable task ahead of him and he will need the support and goodwill of the entire industry. The support is critical not so that Intel can displace the competition but because the industry thrives best when the competitive environment is robust.

Tan can ensure that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSMC) remains competitive, reliable, and committed to developing the best process technologies and demand-supply management initiatives by making sure Intel Foundry Services (IFS) becomes the first-class contract chipmaker able to slug it out in the market toe-to-toe with the Taiwanese rival.

Here are our 5 Top suggestions for Lip-Bu Tan as he starts at Intel as CEO on Tuesday next week:

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TSMC adds Diplomacy to its Chip Strategy, but at What Cost?

TSMC adds Diplomacy to its Chip Strategy, but at What Cost?

By Bolaji Ojo

What’s at stake:

TSMC says it will add more fabs in the United States, deviating further from its Taiwan-centric manufacturing strategy. It caved to pressures from American president Donald Trump, accepting that its business is mired in the bog of geopolitics and nationalism. This shift in the company’s standard operating system will come at a price, the possible loss of some operational efficiencies, for example. Is TSMC willing to pay this price or is it just attempting to deflect criticisms from Donald Trump?

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSMC) was pandering to America’s cantankerous president. It was dissembling, too, despite – finally – making diplomatic moves to appease a powerful and unrelenting foe.

Everyone knew this, but most comments on TSMC’s March 3 announcement that it will more than double US capital expenditure were positive, applauding the foundry and touting the brilliance of a move hardly anyone had predicted or even thought reasonable weeks earlier.

The setting of the announcement itself should have raised red flags. At the White House, Donald Trump, accompanied by TSMC CEO CC Wei, said the Taiwan-based company would increase the number of semiconductor fabs it is building in the United States by 5, at a cost of $100 billion. This would bring the total of its latest capex investment in the country to $165 billion, Wei said. He then proceeded to thank Mr. Trump “again for his support.”

Read More »TSMC adds Diplomacy to its Chip Strategy, but at What Cost?