Two years ago, Wolf Richter noted that Boeing's failure to invest in a successor airframe was a
major cause of the 737 Max debacle:
From 2013 through Q1 2019, Boeing has blown a mind-boggling $43 billion on share buybacks
I
added up the opportunity costs:
Suppose instead of buying back stock, Boeing had invested in its future. Even assuming an entirely new replacement for the 737 series was as expensive as the 787 (the first of a new airframe technology), they could have delivered the first 737 replacement ($32B), and be almost 70% through developing another entirely new airframe ($11B/$16B). But executive bonuses and stock options mattered more than the future of the company's cash cow product.
Below the fold I look at how Intel made the same mistake as Boeing, and early signs that they have figured out what went wrong.
