Making the case for Intel and Smartphones

Intel’s Paul Otellini in the keynote at the Barclays Capital Global Technology Conference 2010 claimed they will have multiple tablets and smartphones being introduced in 2011. The slides and webcast is available on the Intel’s website. Otellini claims that Intel is getting ready to challenge ARM on both the tablet and the smartphone fronts. Otellini said the smartphone venture is “a marathon, not a sprint.” He went on to reveal that Intel’s smartphone processor is currently in the customer sampling stage and should begin popping up in smartphones during the second half of 2011 and into 2012.

 

The slides and webcast reveal an interesting postulation on why Intel can challenge the dominance of ARM in both tablets and smartphones – and that argument is being made on Slides 13 and 14:

 

 

Listening to Otellini on the webcast – the argument is that architectural changes take time typically a decade – the message to the world being ” Wait, have patience. Intel will prevail. We have the scale, capital and technology.” This is the first I have heard on why Intel can take on ARM in the mobile market. Time will tell, the next 12 to 24 months how it plays out but for the first time Intel seems to be making credible arguments on why they would succeed.

 

Disclosure: I am long $INTC but also invested for long in ARM-core semiconductor providers such as $MRVL. I guess I am hedging my bets!

 

 

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