From IBM Mainframes to Wintel PCs to Apple iPhones: 70% is the Magic Number
October 13, 2011
Time to ring the Bell. With the iPhone 4S, Apple has just surpassed the 70% gross margin metric that usually equates to a compute platform becoming an industry standard. IBM’s mainframe achieved it in the 1960s with the 360 series and still is able to crank it out with their Z-series. The combined Intel and Microsoft tandem (Wintel) achieved 70% in the late 1980s and continues to do so across even low-end PCs today. In addition, Intel generates >80% gross margins on its data center, XEON based platforms. Crossing 70% as one can see is a big deal and usually means that a standard has been created that cannot be overcome in head-to-head competition but only by a succeeding platform.
To read the full article, click here
Related Semiconductor IP
- NFC wireless interface supporting ISO14443 A and B with EEPROM on SMIC 180nm
- DDR5 MRDIMM PHY and Controller
- APV - Advanced Professional Video Codec
- RVA23, Multi-cluster, Hypervisor and Android
- CXL 3.0 Controller
Related Blogs
- Teardown of Verizon’s Apple iPhone reveals chips used
- Microprocessor Report pries a few more secrets from the Apple A5 processor and asks if Intel should break itself in two
- Apple Will Nudge Prices Down in 2012: PC Market Will Collapse
- Where will Apple Manufacture the next iPhone Brain?
Latest Blogs
- The Evolution of AI and ML- Enhanced Advanced Driver Systems
- lowRISC Tackles Post-Quantum Cryptography Challenges through Research Collaborations
- How to Solve the Size, Weight, Power and Cooling Challenge in Radar & Radio Frequency Modulation Classification
- Programmable Hardware Delivers 10,000X Improvement in Verification Speed over Software for Forward Error Correction
- The Integrated Design Challenge: Developing Chip, Software, and System in Unison