Gordon Moore made his famous observation in 1965, just four years after the first planar integrated circuit was discovered. The press called it "Moore's Law" and the name has stuck. In his original paper, Moore predicted that the number of transistors per integrated circuit would double every 18 months. He forecast that this trend would continue through 1975. Through Intel's technology, Moore's Law has been maintained for far longer, and still holds true as we enter the new century. The mission of Intel's technology development team is to continue to break down barriers to Moore's Law.

Year of introduction Transistors

4004 1971 2,250
8008 1972 2,500
8080 1974 5,000
8086 1978 29,000
286 1982 120,000
386™ processor 1985 275,000
486™ DX processor 1989 1,180,000
Pentium® processor 1993 3,100,000
Pentium II processor 1997 7,500,000
Pentium III processor 1999 24,000,000
Pentium 4 processor 2000 42,000,000

Dr. Gordon E. Moore is Chairman Emeritus of Intel Corporation. He co-founded Intel in 1968, serving initially as Executive Vice President. He became President and Chief Executive Officer in 1975 and held that post until being elected Chairman and Chief Executive Officer in 1979. He remained CEO until 1987 and served as Chairman until being named Chairman Emeritus in 1997.