Our sister publication, TechEye, reports this morning that Intel is selling its chips at or below cost in an attempt to wrest more market share in the tablet market.
The truth is that like its joined at the hip twin, Microsoft, Intel has lost the place.
We’re not able to quantify the amount of money Intel has spent in the last years attempting to get its microprocessors into smartphones and tablets – all to very little effect.
The truth is that the last thing smartphone manufacturers want to do is find themselves in the same position as PC makers did – that is to say in the grip of a virtual monopoly.
When Intel first mooted the idea of the Atom microprocessor, senior executives maintained in the face of overwhelming evidence that its introduction would cannibalise its existing notebook market.
We have some sympathy for Intel – it invests considerable amounts in very expensive factories employing tens of thousands of people. But its clear lack of strategy in the face of the onward match of tablets and smartphones that don’t use its microprocessors is puzzling.
