Intel, a Timeline
Intel made the chip inside most of the world's personal computers for decades. This video follows the company from its first day to September 2026.
In September 1957 eight scientists, Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore among them, left William Shockley's laboratory to found Fairchild Semiconductor. On 18 July 1968 Noyce and Moore incorporated Intel in Mountain View. It began as a memory company: the 3101 in 1969 and the 1103 dynamic memory chip in 1970. A calculator order from Busicom led to the 4004, advertised on 15 November 1971, the first microprocessor sold as a component.
Moore's prediction of 1965, revised in 1975, became the industry's schedule. The 8086 of 8 June 1978 began the x86 family, and IBM's choice of the 8088 for the PC of 12 August 1981 made it the standard. In October 1985, under pressure from Japanese memory makers, Intel left dynamic memory and launched the 386.
Then Intel Inside (1991), the Pentium (22 March 1993) and the 1994 division flaw that cost a $475 million charge. The missed turns: Itanium, the iPhone, and the delayed 10nm process that let TSMC take the lead. Apple left for its own chips in 2020, and Nvidia took the data centre.
Pat Gelsinger's IDM 2.0 plan (23 March 2021), the CHIPS Act award of $7.86 billion, the $18.8 billion loss of 2024 and his exit on 1 December 2024. Under Lip-Bu Tan, the 2025 cuts, SoftBank's $2 billion, the US government's 9.9% stake for $8.9 billion, and Nvidia's $5 billion. And now: 18A in production in Arizona, second-quarter 2026 revenue of $16.1 billion, a share sale at $95 that raised about $23 billion, and the customer decision on 14A that will decide what Intel becomes.
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Educational documentary. Not financial or investment advice.
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Primary sources
- Intel, 'Explore Intel's history' timeline (timeline.intel.com) and virtual vault article 'Intel's Founding' (intel.com) - founding 18 July 1968, Mountain View, name bought for $15,000, 3101 first product, 1103 DRAM 1970, DRAM exit 10 October 1985 and Grove's quotation, 386 on 17 October 1985 (275,000 transistors, 16 MHz), 8086 on 8 June 1978, Intel Inside 1991, Pentium 1993. Accessed 24 September 2026.
- Computer History Museum, This Day in History (18 July, 15 November) and The Silicon Engine (1956, 1957, 1965) - the traitorous eight, Fairchild in Palo Alto, the 4004 advertisement in Electronic News, 2,250 transistors, Moore's 1965 and 1975 forecasts.
- Gordon Moore, 'Cramming more components onto integrated circuits', Electronics, 19 April 1965.
- IBM, 'The IBM PC' (ibm.com/history) - 12 August 1981, USD 1,565, Intel 8088, off-the-shelf parts, published technical reference.
- Intel Form 10-K for 1994 (SEC) - $475 million pretax charge for the Pentium divide problem; Wikipedia, 'Pentium FDIV bug' - Nicely, 20 December 1994 replacement offer, 17 January 1995 announcement.
- Engadget, 17 May 2013, reporting Paul Otellini's interview with The Atlantic - the iPhone quotation.
- Apple newsroom, 6 June 2005 and 22 June 2020 - the move to Intel and the move away.
- NVIDIA Form 10-K for fiscal 2024; Intel 2023 annual report; AMD Q4 and full year 2023 release (30 January 2024) - data centre revenue.
- Intel, 'Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger Announces IDM 2.0 Strategy', 23 March 2021; Intel and US Commerce Department, $7.86 billion CHIPS award, 26 November 2024; Intel Q4 and full-year 2024 results, 30 January 2025 ($53.1bn revenue, $18.8bn net loss); Intel Form 8-K, 1 December 2024 (Gelsinger retires).
- Intel Form 8-K, 10 March 2025 (Lip-Bu Tan, effective 18 March); Intel Q2 2025 results and Form 10-Q, 24 July 2025 (75,000 core workforce, Germany and Poland, Ohio slowed, 14A warning).
- Intel newsroom, SoftBank $2bn agreement, 18 August 2025; Intel newsroom, 'Intel and Trump Administration Reach Historic Agreement', 22 August 2025 (433.3 million shares at $20.47, $8.9bn, 9.9%); NVIDIA newsroom, 18 September 2025 ($5bn at $23.28).
- Intel newsroom, Panther Lake and Fab 52, 9 October 2025; Intel, 'Intel 18A' (intel.com/foundry) - RibbonFET and PowerVia.
- Intel Q2 2026 results, Form 8-K, 23 July 2026 ($16.1bn, up 25%; net loss $11.0bn; $12.5bn escrowed-shares charge); Intel offering pricing, 10-11 August 2026 (210,526,315 shares at $95, upsized to $20bn; over-allotment of 31,578,947 shares exercised, about $22.9bn gross).
- Motley Fool, 23 September 2026 - no committed outside 14A customer named; decisions expected from the second half of 2026 into the first half of 2027 (Lip-Bu Tan, January 2026 call).
Not regulated financial advice.