Ina Fried

Recent Posts by Ina Fried

Anand Chandrasekher on How Qualcomm Is a Triathlete and Intel Is Lance Armstrong

If you ask Anand Chandrasekher why Intel has struggled so mightily in the mobile chip business, he’ll tell you that his old employer is a great athlete that is trying to play the wrong sport.

The mobile chip business is like a triathlon combining low-power processing horsepower, wireless know-how and graphics muscle. And Intel is kind of like Lance Armstrong. No, Chandrasekher isn’t necessarily saying that Intel is using performance-enhancing drugs, but rather that it is facing challenges in moving beyond its original sport.

“Lance Armstrong was fantastic as a biker, not withstanding any of his habits,” the Qualcomm marketing chief told AllThingsD’s Ina Fried at this week’s D11 conference. “But when he switched from biking to marathoning and did the New York City Marathon, he didn’t do as well … I think Intel faces some of that.”

As for his new employer, he says Qualcomm is “a company that is born mobile.”

“This is a company that has reinvented itself over the past 20-plus years several times,” he said.

So what’s coming next for mobile devices? Lots more sensors and media capabilities that approach those of a home theater, all on a phone or tablet.

Here’s the video interview:

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Another gadget you don’t really need. Will not work once you get it home. New model out in 4 weeks. Battery life is too short to be of any use.

— From the fact sheet for a fake product entitled Useless Plasticbox 1.2 (an actual empty plastic box) placed in L.A.-area Best Buy stores by an artist called Plastic Jesus