Business Case Studies & Business Publications

Competition and Collaboration in the PC ...

Liedtka, Jeanne M....

Case

Competition and Collaboration in the PC Industry: The Evolution of a Value Chain (A)

Liedtka, Jeanne M.; Charan, Guru; Davis, Ryan M.; Moore, Elizabeth K.

BP-0518 | Published January 20, 2007 | 6 pages Case

Collection: Darden School of Business

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The three cases in this series trace developments in the personal computer industry from its inception through 2006, making it possible to examine the issues of collaboration and competition as the value chain in the industry evolves. The A case looks at these tensions through the lens of the relationship between two for the industries' most successful firms?Compaq and Intel. As the A case describes, by the mid-1990s, Compaq was the world's largest PC manufacturer. Compaq's computers used Microsoft software and Intel processors. Compaq was Intel's largest customer and Intel was Compaq's largest supplier. Not surprisingly, then, it caused quite a stir when executives from Compaq and Intel entered into a heated public spat at a September 1994 European technology conference. See the B case (UVA-BP-0519) and C case (UVA-BP-0520).