Intel lays out its plan for Android, will cut chip size in half by 2014
As Paul Otellini said at the Intel press event at Mobile World Congress, “it wouldn't be an Intel presentation without a roadmap.” The company has laid out the long-term plans for its mobile processors …
Context & Ripple Effects
Intel's mobile push follows a 2010 argument that it risked losing in mobile and its 2011 public effort to explain how it would compete with ARM. The roadmap gives that strategy a concrete manufacturing target for Android devices.
The timing matters because Android has taken a leading position in mobile advertising and surpassed Apple in the UK smartphone installed base. Intel's smartphone partnerships with ZTE and Lava give its Android silicon effort named device channels alongside the roadmap.
First-order effects
- Intel commits its Android mobile-processor effort to halving chip size by 2014, making die footprint a stated measure of progress for its mobile strategy.
- ZTE and Lava gain a clearer processor roadmap from a newly announced partner as they plan Android smartphones around Intel silicon.
Second-order effects
- Intel's target puts pressure on ARM-based mobile-chip rivals to compete more visibly on silicon size as well as their established handset presence.
- Android handset makers gain another prospective processor supplier, making their component choices less dependent on the vendors already aligned with ARM architectures.
Third-order effects
- If Intel meets the 2014 target, mobile processor competition shifts further toward manufacturing execution: smaller dies become a route for a PC-chip incumbent to challenge the architecture ecosystem that dominates smartphones.
The trend: Intel is trying to translate its chip-shrinking roadmap into Android relevance, turning mobile silicon competition into a contest of manufacturing scale as well as processor architecture.