Qualcomm rattles Intel?

As the tablet and smartphone transition is changing the computing landscape, the chip giant, Intel is miffed with the Qualcomm surge. Intel, albeit reluctantly has embraced this transition.

The mobile device chip major Qualcomm has announced to empower ultra-low cost or sub Rs 5,000 smartphone makers with its compelling QRD (Qualcomm Reference Design). This has kept Intel in jitters.

Qualcomm maintained its dominance with over 50% market stake. Competitors such as MediaTek, Broadcom, Texas Instruments, NVIDIA and ST-Ericsson are yet to get installation momentum. Intel, on the other hand, rakes in trust deficit (from mobile device vendors).

The processor major, however, countered Fujitsu's claim of first quad-core smartphone- ARROWS X with strategically-priced Snapdragon S4 Pro quad-core processor chipsets.

At Berlin's IQ 2012, Mark Shedd, director, Qualcomm slams Intel's mobile chipsets. Shedd claims that they are two-to-three generations behind their Snapdragon S4 equivalents, which he said has superior software optimization.

Till date, Intel's chipsets have been featured in just few smartphone devices namely Lava in India; Lenova in China; and Orange in France. The silicon major, however, told CIOL earlier that they were gearing for Atom-powered chips to facilitate smartphones.

More devices, for as low as Rs 10,000, Intel said would be unveiled by the end of 2012. Despite intent, the company still lacks a clear roadmap. On the other side, Qualcomm's bombshell to enable ultra-low cost smartphones left Intel in quandry.

During recent IQ 2012 event in India, the company said that they would continue to enable affordable smarphones as India is believed to be a price-sensitive market. Qualcomm is eying at facilitating 3G smarphones at a price point of around Rs 5,000.

Paul Jacobs, chairman and CEO of Qualcomm said that their QRD platform enables entry-level smartphones and they have just embarked upon such a journey. The company projects that 100 mn 3G smartphones will be sold by 2015.

The chipset heavyweight is already working with Dell and Samsung, and with this strategic collaboration, new products are expected sometime soon. "Prices are coming down rapidly in the emerging economies," added Jacobs.

Qualcomm is also banking on its Snapdragon all-in-one mobile processor, and has sold 483 mn chipsets during 2011 fiscal. Several device vendors have already lined up for its processing platforms. Will Intel act, before it gets too late?