Intel is off to a bad start in the mobile market, and might not get to recover

No matter how hard Intel is trying, things don’t seem to go too well for them in the mobile market. According to sources quoted by Digitimes, the sales of the Intel-based smartphones aren’t going so well, and now two of their main partners, Motorola and Lenovo, are delaying their own Medfield-based tablets (and probably phones as well) at least until November.
At that point, we’ll probably be too impressed by the new Android 5.0 Nexus devices, featuring chips like the S4 Pro, Exynos 5250 and even OMAP 5, to care for Medfield phones running Jelly Bean. So things aren’t looking too bright for Intel in the future, either. But why is Intel, such a big company with a huge war chest, and a leader in the (x86) chip market, having such a hard time entering the mobile market?
Just because a company utterly dominates a certain market, it doesn’t mean that it will be successful in other markets by default. Throwing money at the problem will do nothing, if Intel can’t create a chip that is competitive against ARM’s mobile designs.
There are other things to consider, such as the fact that ARM has a unique business model, where there are a lot of ARM chip makers, all competing with each other and on price. As a result, ARM is very hard to beat, because Intel isn’t fighting just one company like AMD, but a whole bunch of ARM chip makers at once. Plus, why would phone makers give away the flexibility and power they get from the status quo, and risk getting locked by Intel, like PC manufacturers?
So, why would a manufacturer go with an Intel chip, if it doesn’t offer any technical advantages over ARM chips? Should they go with Intel just because of its brand recognition? The Intel name means nothing in the mobile market, and most end users don’t know what chip their phone has, nor do they care.
Intel plans to release a Clover Trail dual-core chip for the end of the year and the Windows 8 launch, but that’s not a “mobile” chip like Medfield. It’s a lot less power efficient, going up to 8-10W TDP. This chip is definitely not meant for Android tablets, but for Windows 8 ones. On Android tablets, it would be painfully obvious how low the battery life is compared to other ARM tablets. But on Windows, Intel can at least say they enable desktop apps, and they need the extra oomph for running Windows.
On Android, I don’t think Intel has any chance to get popular anymore, and if Windows 8 fails in the market, things will go downhill fast for both Microsoft and Intel.
SOURCES DigiTimes
TAGS ARMExynos 5250intelLenovoMedfieldMotorolaOMAP 5S4 ProTegra 3


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Sony might unveil new smartphones in Berlin on August 29, Hayabusa and Mint could lead the line-up

The CES, MWC and IFA electronics tradeshows used to be the events where new trends were made and products were unveiled. But lately some of the big manufacturers have shifted their strategies. Samsung, Sony, and Asus have all started to hold exclusive events of their own, to ensure that all the spotlight is on their products.
The Samsung Unpacked event from May, when the Galaxy S3 was unveiled, was probably more popular than both this year’s CES and MWC together, and now Sony is trying to do something similar with an exclusive Berlin press conference and “booth unveiling”.
Sony’s special announcement will take place just two days before the beginning of IFA 2012 (also set to be held in Berlin), and, while we haven’t yet got an invitation from the Japan-based tech giant, we’ll cover the event extensively, right from the “crime scene”.

The guys over at GSM Arena have received one of the first invitations from Sony, but unfortunately it doesn’t say much about what products are to be revealed in Berlin. The invite doesn’t specifically mention the company’s mobile division, but the fact that it was first sent to a website like GSM Arena is a clear indicator that we’ll see one or several new Android smartphones.
There are only a few likely suspects for the headline title of the event, but Sony might also be prepping a surprise. The LT29i, a.k.a. Hayabusa, a.k.a. the global version of the Japanese Xperia GX, could well be made official on August 29, although we frankly expect it to come much sooner.

The LT30 Mint is another high-end Sony smartphone expected to be launched quite soon, with rumors from January stating that it could start selling in September. That possibility seems pretty slim right now, but it’s not impossible that we’ll see the Mint unveiled in Berlin and made available a few weeks later.
Towards the lower end of the range, there are two other Sony smartphones leaked in that launch schedule from January, but both of them are still wrapped in mystery. We haven’t heard a thing about the “AFFM” or the “Atlas” over the last six months, so there’s a good chance they have been either postponed or canceled altogether.
The August 29 event, which is set to start at 16:15 and end at 17:00 (CET), could also be the perfect occasion for the unveiling of  a non-smartphone Sony product. We might see a new Walkman or even the much awaited Playstation 4 get some attention.
No matter what devices Sony is planning to unveil next month in Berlin, it’s pretty clear that we’re all in for a treat, so don’t forget to check back to our website to find out what this event is all about.
SOURCES GSM Arena
TAGS IFA 2012SonySony HayabusaSony LT29iSony LT30Sony Mint


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