Intel seeks an alternate way into your living room with Atom CE5300 for set-top boxes
Intel has announced and made available the dual-core, 32nm Atom CE5300 system-on-chip designed for use in set-top boxes. It follows on from the company's Atom chips that saw use in Google TV-powered devices …
Context & Ripple Effects
Intel has been broadening Atom beyond its early low-power positioning, from dual-core Atom plans to netbook chips and a later push to challenge ARM in tablets. The CE5300 extends that effort into television hardware, where Intel chips had already appeared in Google TV-powered devices.
First-order effects
- Set-top-box makers gain an available dual-core, 32nm Atom system-on-chip option, giving Intel a direct route to sell Atom into living-room hardware.
- Intel can position Atom CE5300 as a follow-on platform for manufacturers building devices around Google TV as well as other set-top-box software.
Second-order effects
- Set-top-box chip suppliers face a more explicit Intel bid for designs that combine processing and media-device functions, making platform support a more important part of supplier selection.
- Google TV hardware partners gain another Intel-specific component path, tying the platform's device ecosystem more closely to Intel's Atom roadmap.
Third-order effects
- If set-top-box makers adopt CE5300, Atom’s business shifts further from discrete low-cost PC chips toward a portfolio of embedded systems-on-chips across device categories.
- The move points to competition for consumer devices being decided increasingly at the platform level—processor availability, software compatibility, and manufacturer support together—rather than by processor performance alone.
The trend: Intel is using Atom to seek footholds across low-power consumer-device categories, including tablets, netbooks, and connected television hardware.