Intel CEO Paul Otellini has told employees he believes the company can become a dominant force in the market for smartphone microprocessors, despite having so far made little impact.
“I am … very optimistic about our opportunity in tablets and smartphones, even though we are not first to market with a solution,” wrote Otellini in an internal email obtained by the Bloomberg news agency. “Ultimately, we can and will lead.”
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Smart processors Intel is stepping up its fight to sell processors to smartphone manufacturers
Otellini remarked that “some in the industry laughed at us” when Intel first attempted to crack into the market for server chips, a market that it now dominates, Bloomberg reports.
Today, most mobile devices use chips designed by British company ARM Holdings. Unlike Intel, ARM licenses its designs to multiple third party manufacturers, meaning that there is a competitive ecosystem for its chips.
Speaking to Information Age about Intel’s chances of disrupting ARM’s lead, Forrester Research analyst Charles Golvin said its greatest challenge is persuading device makers to switch from this ecosystem to a single-supplier model. “Irrespective of industry, nobody likes to be single sourced,” he said. “You need competitive supply.”
