1974 Intel Annual Report

1974 was a year of continued growth for Intel. Sales climbed to $134 million, more than double the $66 million shipped in the preceding year. Earnings kept pace, increasing to $19.7 million, or $2.96 per share, in 1973.

These results alone do not truly reflect the course of the year. Demand for semiconductor memory components, which account for a major portion of our sales, was very strong in the first half, but declined successively in each of the two final quarters, as illustrated in the quarterly summary on the preceding page.

This general pattern has been common to most semiconductor manufacturers, as supply overtook demand and customers tempered their production plans due to the slowing world economy. Another factor was the consumption of high customer inventories during the latter stages of the shortage environment that prevailed into 1974. The more immediate availability of semiconductor components coupled with high inventory carrying costs further motivated our customers to minimize inventories. This action was also encouraged by the historical trend of component prices to decline over time, as yields improve.

Other segments of our business have to date been relatively unaffected by the general softening of the market, but their growth has been insufficient to offset to drop the drop in the memory components area. As an example, sales of our microcomputer components have continued to increase despite the adverse economic trend as a result of the increasing breadth of our product line and new applications for it. Similarly, our Memory Systems Division also continued to grow throughout the year as penetration increased in both OEM and end-user markets. Both these market segments have very good prospects for 1975. The results of Microma, on the other hand, were disappointing in 1974. However, significant growth is anticipated this year this year in this new and expanding market segment, which is still in the early phase of displacing mechanical watch movements with electronic modules.

Read the full 1974 Intel Annual Report.