Intel Goes Mobile

The upcoming Intel Developer Forum is expected to focus on chips for both traditional notebooks and emerging mobile devices, with less emphasis on desktop PC processors, according to Intel officials and independent analysts.

The event's expected focus is consistent with Intel's growing interest in mobile processors; demand for these processors is growing much faster than demand for desktop PC processors, a stagnant market that Intel has dominated for many years.

The show, to be held in San Jose, California, from September 9 to September 12, will highlight the company's advances in chips for embedded and wireless handheld devices, Intel officials have said. Intel will reveal new capabilities possessed by chips based on its XScale technology, a chip architecture for mobile devices based on core technology from ARM, they have said.

Small Devices, Growing Market

Intel has been focusing much of its attention on the mobile market, though sales of processors for digital cameras, cell phones, and personal digital assistants (PDAs) account for a relatively small portion of the company's current revenues ($532 million in the second quarter of 2002, out of total revenues of $6.32 billion).

Intel announced Tuesday a partnership with Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV to develop a new generation of consumer electronics devices that will use Intel's XScale processors. Also, Intel's PXA250 processors will show up in a combination cell phone/PDA device with a retractable keyboard from Bsquare. Other announcements of handheld and consumer electronics devices containing XScale processors are expected at the show, according to Intel officials.

"Mobile data access is going to be a key trend for this decade, and Intel wants to be a big part of it," said Kevin Krewell, senior editor of the Microprocessor Report and general manager of market research company MDR in San Jose.

Hopes for sustained growth in Intel's main business--its microprocessors, chip sets, and motherboards for desktop PCs--are falling as the world economy continues to stagnate and the desktop PC market matures. Several financial analysis firms have reduced their revenue and earnings expectations for the final two quarters of Intel's 2002 fiscal year and for the entire 2002 fiscal year, pointing to a weaker-than-expected back-to-school market.

Designed for Mobility

Some details of Intel's new chip for notebook computers, Banias, have already been released, but the company is expected to provide further technical details and will probably demonstrate a prototype of the chip to the convention attendees, sources said. Further information about the forthcoming 3.0-GHz Pentium 4 processor for desktop PCs is also expected at the show, according to Intel.

Banias is Intel's project to develop a processor optimized for a mobile environment "from the ground up," said Frank Spindler, vice president of the Intel corporate technology group, in an interview last week.

Rather than tweaking existing desktop processors to perform in a mobile environment, as was done for the Pentium 4-M, Banias will be a "total systems approach" to a mobile processor, said Nathan Brookwood, principal analyst for Insight 64 in Saratoga, California.

Watching Battery, Heat Levels

Banias will contain 802.11b technology that cuts the amount of power consumed by a processor during wireless transactions, according to Brookwood. This lengthens battery life and allows Banias to be used in extremely thin and light notebook form factors, he said.

Intel did not immediately return calls seeking comment on the 802.11b technology mentioned by Brookwood.

Designers of mobile processors have always been concerned with keeping power consumption and heat dissipation low, to avoid the types of problems experienced recently by some users of notebooks from Toshiba. A group of users recently filed a class-action suit against Toshiba, alleging that the notebook manufacturer did not adequately address the design needs of desktop processors in mobile environments, leading their Satellite 5005 series notebooks to overheat and shut down without warning.

Speed Isn't Everything

Because initial clock speeds for Banias are expected to be around 1.6 GHz or 1.7 GHz, Intel must develop a different marketing strategy, focusing on overall performance instead of on speed, Brookwood said. Intel generally touts its clock speed advantage in comparison tests, but the Banias chip will have better overall performance than higher clock-speed Pentium 4-M chips, he said.

For years, rival Advanced Micro Devices has argued that clock speed is not the primary determinant of processor performance, and Intel will have to acknowledge that with Banias, Brookwood said.

Still, Intel has a huge advantage in the market for desktop and notebook processors over AMD. According to research from Mercury Research, Intel accounted for 82.8 percent of desktop and notebook PC processor shipments worldwide, compared to AMD's 15.6 percent.