Intel leaders' 1985 strategic pivot to microprocessors

In 1985, Intel faced a critical crisis as Japanese manufacturers began producing faster and cheaper DRAM chips, causing Intel's net profit to plummet from $198 million in 1984 to less than $2 million in a single year.

To overcome the emotional attachment to their core memory business, Intel Chairman Andy Grove and CEO Gordon Moore engaged in a strategic exercise. Grove asked Moore what a new CEO, hired to replace them, would do to fix the company. Moore concluded that a new leader would move Intel away from the memory market.

Following this realization, Intel exited the memory business, closed factories, reduced its workforce by approximately one-third, and redirected all resources toward microprocessors. This pivot allowed Intel to become the world's largest semiconductor company by 1992.