Intel Shrinks Its Chips, Not Its Mobile Ambitions
Perennially seeking to make deeper inroads in the phone and tablet business, Intel plans to show off a few things on Tuesday that show its progress in the mobile business.
On the phone front, Intel is expected to show a reference design using the company’s Merrifield processor, based on a thin, 22-nanometer chipmaking process and a tri-gate architecture known as Silvermont. Although Intel will hold it up and show a working model, the underlying silicon won’t reach customers until late this year or early 2014.
More on the near-term front, Intel will show a tablet running Intel’s first LTE chip capable of handling multiple bands simultaneously. That technology, paired with the company’s Bay Trail processors, will be shipping to customers within a few weeks.
Meanwhile, on Monday, Samsung announced that an Intel chip would power the new 10-inch Galaxy Tab 3 — one of Intel’s most significant design wins to date.
The company has also powered a smattering of devices from Motorola and Lenovo, and has provided chips for a number of carrier-branded devices and phones from lesser-known providers, such as India’s Lava.
Intel has promised continued progress on the mobile front, while rivals say it doesn’t have the skills needed to parlay its PC success into a significant position on phones and tablets.
