What if Intel powered the first iPhone? That will just remain like that, a question of what could have been as Paul Otellini steps down Thursday as the chief executive officer of Intel.
Otellini reveals that he passed on the opportunity to seal a deal with Apple to power the original iPhone and that he regrets the decision given the wild success of the smartphone.
In an in-depth interview with "The Atlantic", the newly retired top executive shared that he shot down the chance for Intel to put its chips inside the first iPhone.
"We ended up not winning it or passing on it, depending on how you want to view it. And the world would have been a lot different if we'd done it," Otellini told the publication.
"The lesson I took away from that was, while we like to speak with data around here, so many times in my career I've ended up making decisions with my gut, and I should have followed my gut," the regretful Otellini added. "My gut told me to say yes."
A lot of people may argue that the processor manufacturing company thrived during the time of Otellini. Intel definitely led the pack in the server and PC chip business but it missed out on providing reliable processors for mobile devices. The company might be entering the game a bit too late with its efforts in recent months to put x86 chips inside smartphones to challenge the more widely-used ARM-based processors.
When Intel opted out of supplying its chips to Apple, the iPhone creator asked the help of Samsung to supply what it needed. Today, the Korean company still creates the A-series processors but this partnership might end soon.
Otellini explained that it was not clear before if the original iPhone would sell and that the price Apple was bargaining for was below what Intel can accept. The chips manufacturer could not just cut its price for an unproven handset back then. Intel has been pricing its processors higher than most of its rivals to have higher margins. This does not apply to mobile chips that are a lot cheaper than computer processors.
Another logical reason to take note is that Intel chips are more power-hungry than ARM-based processors. The battery life of the iPhone could have also been a big factor. Intel is now focusing on ways to lower the consumption of their chips, years after the Apple iPhone debuted.
Otellini turned over his office to Brian Krzanich, Intel's manufacturing head.
