Intel reveals next-generation Atom details
SAN FRANCISCO — This past Thursday, Intel briefed journalists on its forthcoming Atom version, codenamed Pine Trail, and on its plans to launch a slew of new processors at CES. Apart from the launch details, the company's general message …
Context & Ripple Effects
Intel used a pre-CES journalist briefing to lay out Pine Trail, the next version of its Atom line, alongside plans to launch a slew of new processors at CES — the company's low-power franchise doing the heavy lifting at the same moment its first standalone graphics effort in over a decade was shelved, with Larrabee demoted to a software development platform after developmental setbacks earlier in December 2009.
The timing matters because it lands four days after the FTC charged Intel's tactics with stifling innovation and harming consumers, meaning the Atom refresh arrives just as regulators and rivals are scrutinizing how Intel uses its scale in the volume PC market.
First-order effects
- Netbook and nettop makers get a refreshed low-cost Atom platform to build their CES 2010 product lines around, with Intel committing to a broad processor launch slate at the show.
Second-order effects
- Rival low-power chip vendors must respond to a faster, newer Atom at the same price-sensitive end of the market where Intel already dominates volume, while the FTC's pending case raises the cost of any bundling or discounting tactics Intel might use to defend that position.
Third-order effects
- If the annual Atom refresh cadence holds, Intel is positioning x86 as a persistent presence in small, cheap, battery-conscious devices — the segment where ARM-based designs were the incumbent alternative through 2009.
The trend: Intel is institutionalizing Atom as an annually iterated volume franchise, doubling down on low-power silicon even as its graphics ambitions stall and antitrust scrutiny intensifies.