Intel (INTC)

Due to the significant fixed costs in the industry and the somewhat volatile demand for their products (due to product cycles and general market swings) Intel may see periods, in both the short- and long-run, of significant revenue decreases. This may result from quick changes in the market demand and the difficulty that comes with reducing fixed costs in the short-run.

As the products produced by Intel and AMD become increasingly similar in technology and design, Intel may see a decreasing margins over their competitor.

The pricing war that began with AMD is not over. Despite cooling from a heated battle in 2006 and part of 2007, margins still suffer from competition. Intel's performance in the 90s was strongly related to the lack of competition it faced. Since AMD released its K6 processors in the late 90s, Intel has had pressure applied to its market share.

Intel is currently the leader in performance for microprocessors, but because of AMD recent history of successful R&D, this leadership is subject to Intel's own continued successful R&D efforts. Until the Core design, Intel slipped in relative performance and was bleeding market share. With AMD's ambitious Fusion platform (2009) in development, Intel's Nehalem project (2008) must be a success in order to maintain that performance lead.

Growth in demand for computers has slipped since the mid-1990s. If this trend continues Intel could see decreasing growth in revenues.