Editing Intel (section)

====386 microprocessor====
During this period [[Andrew Grove]] dramatically redirected the company, closing much of its [[DRAM]] business and directing resources to the [[microprocessor]] business. Of perhaps greater importance was his decision to "single-source" the 386 microprocessor. Prior to this, microprocessor manufacturing was in its infancy, and manufacturing problems frequently reduced or stopped production, interrupting supplies to customers. To mitigate this risk, these customers typically insisted that multiple manufacturers produce chips they could use to ensure a consistent supply. The 8080 and 8086-series microprocessors were produced by several companies, notably AMD, with which Intel had a technology-sharing contract.
[[File:Intel chips 386 387.jpg|thumb|The 386 with the optional 387 co-processor]]
Grove made the decision not to license the 386 design to other manufacturers, instead, producing it in three geographically distinct factories: [[Santa Clara, California]]; [[Hillsboro, Oregon]]; and [[Chandler, Arizona|Chandler]], a suburb of [[Phoenix, Arizona]]. He convinced customers that this would ensure consistent delivery. In doing this, Intel breached its contract with AMD, which sued and was paid millions of dollars in damages but could not manufacture new Intel CPU designs any longer. (Instead, AMD started to develop and manufacture its own competing x86 designs.)

As the success of [[Compaq]]'s [[Compaq Deskpro 386|Deskpro 386]] established the 386 as the dominant CPU choice, Intel achieved a position of near-exclusive dominance as its supplier. Profits from this funded rapid development of both higher-performance chip designs and higher-performance manufacturing capabilities, propelling Intel to a position of unquestioned leadership by the early 1990s.