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Execution has been a vast problem at Intel throughout the last couple of decades. I think the source of a great deal of the problems with execution was the company s hostile culture. For much of Intel s existence, employee was set against employee. I doubt anyone knows this better than Gelsinger, who was forced out of the company after seemingly being on the wrong side of a power play.
Conversely, Pat was one of the most supportive, empathetic, and passionate managers and executives Intel has ever had. This set of circumstances puts him in a unique position to understand this problem, and he has already demonstrated the appropriate skill set to deal with it. Even if he leads by doing, he should have a positive impact on the culture, correcting the bad behavior of Intel managers, and, as a result, also dealing with the execution issues which likely had a lot to do with excessive infighting.
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//]]>// >By Rob Enderle
Mar 15, 2021 4:00 AM PT
We have a massive problem with electronics waste. Globally, we throw out 50 million tons of it every year, which is the equivalent of 1,000 laptops every second.
Recycling is still not universal, and often it costs more to recycle something due to how it was built than the materials inside the device are worth. On top of that, 70 percent of electronic waste is toxic. As this waste makes its way into groundwater or the oceans, it will increasingly hurt our health and longevity.
This month the EU stepped up to address this problem with a comprehensive right to repair law that should dramatically reduce this electrical waste. The U.K. is close behind and they don t have a choice if they want to sell to the EU and I expect that the same driver will force the U.S. to comply with this regulation if it wants to sell to the EU or U.K.
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//]]>// >By Rob Enderle
May 17, 2021 4:00 AM PT
Stella Low, one of the most capable communications executives I ve ever met, just left Cisco to lead corporate communications and support diversity and social responsibility at Apple.
In contrast, Apple seems to have made a list of things not to do to customers, or as an employer, and rather than avoiding bad practices has set them as goals.
The reason for this is an excessive focus on margins and a lack of focus on customers whom the company appears to increasingly take for granted; a common problem with Apple s lock-in business model.
Apr 26, 2021 4:00 AM PT
Apple s strategy, which has worked well financially up until now, is called vendor lock-in.
This approach, pioneered by IBM until it almost put the company out of business in the 1990s, is incredibly profitable, but it treats customers like a resource to be mined. It restricts customer movement away from the platform to provide lower quality goods at higher prices because the customer can t easily switch to something else.
In addition, with lock-in, the dominant vendor can easily replace third-party apps and products with their high-cost alternatives by crippling or just creating FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) around a third-party offering like, in this case, Tile.
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//]]>// >By Rob Enderle
May 10, 2021 4:00 AM PT
Last week at Dell Technologies World, the most significant announcement was a massive as-a-service offering called Dell Technologies Apex.
This promises to return the IT market to its long lost but fondly remembered IBM past. Back when I came out of school, IBM was the most revered and powerful technology company. This benefit was mainly due to a sales model that predated as-a-service but was surprisingly similar.
The services first leasing model assured IBM a steady, easy-to-manage income stream; and customers an equally manageable cost stream that assured IBM and its customers were tied together at the hip. Dell s Apex promises even better benefits for Dell and its customers.