Josh OngOtellini told analysts at a conference that the new tablets will come from brands including Dell, Asus, Lenovo and Toshiba, and "roll out over the first half of next year," Reuters reports. In addition to tablets, "premier branded" smartphones powered by Intel's chips will arrive in the "second half of 2011," said Otellini.
Intel has struggled in the mobile space as its Atom mobile processor has failed to gain traction among new tablet and smartphone designs. In October, Otellini told employees that Intel was running a come-from-behind "marathon" in the mobile architecture contest.
Though Apple has taken an early lead in the tablet and smartphone markets using ARM-licensed chip processors, Otellini remains confident that "ultimately, [Intel] can and will lead."
Analysts see Intel's upcoming product news as positive, though they are also taking a wait-and-see approach. "Intel is moving in the right strategic direction but they still have a long way to go," said Gabelli & Company analyst Hendi Susanto. "They're late into the game. There is no clear visibility on what the products look like."
With Intel's growth into the mobile space solidifying for next year, the company is increasingly optimistic. "I'm happy to report that Intel has been back in the market this quarter," Otellini said. "The buy-back has resumed."
In August, Intel stock tumbled after the company lowered its third-quarter revenue forecast, citing "weaker than expected sales of consumer PCs in mature markets." The actual third-quarter results, released in October, were a record quarter for the world's largest chipmaker, but Otellini also warned that the iPad may be cutting into PC sales.
Wednesday's news that Intel is repurchasing shares of its stock, coupled with the company raising of its dividend by 15 percent in November, should bolster investor confidence in the company. "Shareholders will look at that and say management is putting their money where their mouth is," said analyst Craig Ellis.
Intel's stock was up 1.11 percent at the close of the market on Wednesday.
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Malcolm Owen
Christine McKee
Amber Neely
16 Comments
Will be interesting to see how this develops over time. At one time Intel was seen by we Apple fans as part of the evil Wintel empire. Now Intel and Apple are buddies in the desktop and laptop space. The question is, can Apple outdo Intel in the mobile processor world with its custom in-house ARM designs. Hard to bet against Intel in the long run, but I don't know anything silicon design so can't really venture an opinion on this. I do wonder if mobile chips are so much simpler that a company like Apple that is not a silicon specialist like Intel can outdo them. I am guessing that the key is hardware/software/chip integration. If Intel is willing to allow Apple to work with them to do custom chips this could be a win/win. If they want Apple to design their hardware and software around an off the shelf mobile chip, maybe not.
design wins? sounds strange.
they were awarded contracts?
I don't think they "won" anything.
other than more headaches with their slow processors.
First Off what sort of smart phone is going to handle an ATOM processor? Last I knew we where still talking watts vs milliwatts. iPhone for example apparently tops out a little over two watts with everything running.
In the tablet space it could be as different story but ATOM isn't exactly a high integration device. For many AMDs Ontario would make a better tablet processor. In the long run Apple does have a problem with ARM due to the lack of a clear 64 bit upgrade path. It won't take long for this (64 bit) to become a requirement. Still as a platform for tablet like devices, ATOM is still a long way from being the SoC that manufactures need to compete with Apple.
design wins? sounds strange.
Well design wins do keep you in business! However I just don't see 30 some odd ATOM based tablets coming next year.
We will see. I have about as much confidence as you. If we do see anything it will likely be axlaptop thick device with a huge battery.
other than more headaches with their slow processors.
Slow? We shouldn't be throwing stones here as the A4 in the iPad is anything but fast. In fact I see an upgraded processor SoC as a must have for iPad 2. Ideally that would be a dual core Cortex A9 based processor or better.
There are many good reasons for one to be appalled with the idea of ATOM based tablets I just don't think speed is one of them.
First Off what sort of smart phone is going to handle an ATOM processor? Last I knew we where still talking watts vs milliwatts. iPhone for example apparently tops out a little over two watts with everything running.
In the tablet space it could be as different story but ATOM isn't exactly a high integration device. For many AMDs Ontario would make a better tablet processor. In the long run Apple does have a problem with ARM due to the lack of a clear 64 bit upgrade path. It won't take long for this (64 bit) to become a requirement. Still as a platform for tablet like devices, ATOM is still a long way from being the SoC that manufactures need to compete with Apple.
Could you describe what you see as requiring 64 bit on phones?