Intel Corp (INTC)

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Guess I missed the meeting minutes where Paul said 'take a hike' to Apple reps. I'll try to get my facts straight next time.

I was more referring to your remark about how my remarks are costing me readers. I'm not going to apologize for the way I express my thoughts.

Slight dramatization aside, at the end of the day, Intel refused to take Apple's business based on a gross underestimation of the potential of that product. My point to chipguy was simply that it's very hard to know a priori what products will be true hits/paradigm shifts and what will end up being duds.

Should Intel take ALL business? No! But it was clear then that Apple tended to have good ideas that often times led to paradigm shifts. The iPod, for one, and the original Macintosh computers, are good examples.

At any rate, the iPhone went on to be a smash success and it's clear that it wasn't until 2010/2011 that Intel decided, "oh crap, we need to be in this market".

Intel will eventually dig itself out of this hole with massive R&D dollars and marketing help, but it's going to be an ugly slog for the next 5 years or so before Intel is really making good money at this.