Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) has roped in Amir Faintuch, an ex-employee of QUALCOMM, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM) Inc to ramp up its efforts in mobile and Internet-connected gadgets, says a report from Reuters. In a rather unusual step, the chip maker, who is often looked upon for its insular culture, has reflected that it is striving to clinch some ground in mobile business.
Faintuch to boost Intel SoCs effort
Prior to Intel, Faintuch was the President of Qualcomm Atheros supervising the company’s networking and connectivity businesses. At Intel, Faintuch will take-up the role of senior vice president and co-general manager of the Platform Engineering Group, according to the company’s spokesman Chuck Mulloy.
Faintuch will be one of many senior executives in supervising the Platform Engineering Group with Josh Walden, who is a manufacturing technology expert and a former supervisor. According to Mulloy, Faintuch has a deep networking knowledge along with good experience in designing “systems on chips” or SoCs, which include features like modems, Wi-Fi and memory. Amir carries extensive management experience and a strong resume.
The chipmaker is a dominating force in laptops and desktop processors, but still lacks the required skill and experience in designing SoCs that are integrated with the smartphones and tablets. Mulloy said, “We want to accelerate our success rate with SoCs and get the designs aligned and the roadmaps aligned to do that,” and added that the company has come a long way, but still more is to be done.
Intel playing a catch-up game
Qualcomm is the leader in the smartphone segment, leaving Intel distantly behind, and recently engineers have preferred the company as more attractive place to work compared to Intel. Intel is trying to catch up with Qualcomm in mobile gadgets components, an area where the former is lagging behind. A Qualcomm spokesman confirmed Faintuch leaving the company.
Intel CEO Brian Krzanich has brought many significant changes in the company to revive the declining PC sales including opening Intel factories to other chipmakers that are ready to pay and use. Back in May, Intel entered into a deal with Chinese Soc specialist Rockchip to design chips for low-cost tablets running on Google’s Inc Android platform. In 2012, Anand Chandrasekher, who worked at Intel for 25 years, switched to Qualcomm to become the chief marketing officer at the San Diego-based company.
