Intel Open to Windows OS on Smartphones

Updated on

Intel Open to Windows OS on Smartphones

Intel recently hinted that it was open to using Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s Windows Phone OS, as long as it was commercially viable.

Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) may soon be supporting the OS that is used by Microsoft’s Windows Phone. The Windows phone platform has had limited commercial success, but won rave reviews. Intel is taking a wait and see attitude.

On the other hand, the company has taken a bet on the Android platform, run by Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) . The platform is the world’s largest in the mobile market, and it runs on the x86 platform from Intel. Android started making inroads in to world markets earlier in the year.

The head of Intel’s Mobile Communications Group, Hermann Eul said that the share held by Windows OS Smartphone is small, but it had the capacity to do well. He added that Intel devices had the capacity to support Windows, and a future between the two cannot be ruled out.

Intel had a late start to the Smartphone market, with pioneer Smartphones with Intel processors only coming out earlier in the year. The Xolo X900 Smartphone was released in India by Lava International, and Orange released the San Diego in the UK. The LePhone K800 is also another Intel based Processor chip Smartphone launched in China by Lenovo.

Motorola and ZTE are also expected to releases smartphones with Intel processors. The Smartphones use processors code named Medfield and are single core Atom processors. Most Smartphones using the Intel chips run on Google’s Android OS, but the chips also support the Linux-based Tizen OS.

However, Intel thinks that Android will boost its bearing on the mobile market, where firms such as Samsung Electronics and Qualcomm  dominate the chip business, with their ARM processors.

ARM Holdings plc (LON:ARM)  is the main Intel competitor, and most of its processors are usually used in handsets.

Intel which is a major player in PC chips has been struggling to make a name for itself in the mobile market. There are concerns whether it could  match ARM in power usage; with its chips being used in mobile handsets.

In response to the concerns, Hermann Eul said that the response from consumer has been beyond expectations.

Intel is expected to produce a dual-core Atom Z2580 processor later this year with 4G, 3G and even LTE capabilities. This new release will be a follow through to the first Z2460 Intel Smartphone chip. In 2013, a low power Atom chip, named Merrifield, with a new processor design as well as improved graphics core will then be released. The 22-nanometer process will be used to make the chip.

Subsequent chip productions will use the 14-nanometer process, but details surrounding the chips still shrouded in secrecy.

Leave a Comment