computerwoche.de

Archiv

Intel pins hope on smartphones for growth

07.02.2009
The global market for cellphones is over 1.2 billion units per year. According to , about 17 percent -- nearly 200 million -- are smartphones that require advanced processing power. That's why Intel CEO Paul Otellini is "trying to sell a scaled-down version of the company's personal-computer processor in a bid to win orders for advanced phones" from major smartphone makers like Apple, RIM, or Nokia, according to a .

Intel has so far failed to break into the mobile phone market. Otellini killed former chief Craig Barrett's US$5 billion handset processor initiative in 2006, after Intel lost out to and other companies. Apple uses Intel chips for its Mac computers, but ARM processors for its iPod and iPhone lineups.

Intel's Atom chip has gathered buzz for its use in small, low-cost , one of the few tech categories that due to reduced consumer spending on more expensive notebooks. But netbooks are a niche market at best. Gartner's estimate of 78 million netbooks sold accounted for only 5 percent of .

Smartphones, therefore, represent a bigger chunk of a larger market for Intel to capture. Intel CFO Stacy Smith told Bloomberg, "We would love dearly to win one of the big guys, that really is the smartphone game, it really is a concentrated set of suppliers. We're lurking behind every bush and showing them our product line."