Remembering the Father of the PC

Andy Grove’s passing closes a chapter in the early part of the PC industry. I am profoundly sad one of our industry’s legends is gone, and he will be missed greatly. As Intel’s CEO and Chairman, Andy played a foundational role that few of us could dream of doing –  helping drive Intel’s microprocessor development and subsequently, fueling the PC business. We would not be where we are today without Andy, and I’m proud to have called him not only a business partner, but also my longtime friend.

From our earliest days starting to engineer our own PCs for Chinese consumers, Andy was there. And he continued to be there as one of our biggest supporters and partners as we grew.  I remember in 1996 when we launched our million Pentium campaign – a highly ambitious goal for us to achieve. With his and Intel’s support we reached this milestone, which led us to become the market leader in China – a position we still hold today – and setting the pace for our continued growth and global expansion. Two years later he helped us celebrate selling our 100 millionth computer where Zhou Guanzhao, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, dubbed him the “father of the PC.”  We’re proud this computer stands today in Intel’s company museum. 

 In my eyes, Andy certainly embodies the spirit of innovation that enabled the PC to come to life, and I will always know him as the “father of the PC.”  He will live on through the many companies and products he helped inspire.