ARM could breathe new life into laptops

IDG News Service - A stagnant laptop market could be reinvigorated with the arrival of ARM processors, which will enable lighter machines with all-day battery life, industry observers said.

Most laptops today use x86 processors from Intel and Advanced Micro Devices. But chips with ARM processors are smaller and more power-efficient than X86 microprocessors, which should help laptop makers build tablet-like laptops with touchscreens, analysts said. At the same time, however, ARM will face challenges trying to crack into a market where users prize performance.

ARM is the first architecture with a good chance of breaking x86's stranglehold over PCs, analysts said. ARM processors will be used in nearly a quarter of all PCs shipped worldwide by 2015, according to research firm IHS iSuppli. IDC predicts a more modest 15% share by 2015.

ARM processors dominate in tablets and smartphones, but the arrival of Windows 8 on ARM will fuel interest for ARM for laptops, said Matthew Wilkins, principal analyst at IHS iSuppli. Windows 8 will be available both on X86 and ARM processors, whereas the most recent Windows versions have only been available for X86.

"New products will always attract attention. If ARM-based laptops can attract users from the [tablet], it might reinvigorate interest in the PC market," Wilkins said.

Gartner and IDC have both reported slow gains in PC sales for the second quarter, due partly to growing interest in tablets. Intel projected last week that PC shipments will grow at about 8% for the remainder of the year, below its earlier projection of about 11%.

ARM licenses processor designs to chip makers, and its latest Cortex-A15 processors are scheduled to appear in smartphones and tablets next year. Texas Instruments, Nvidia and Qualcomm have expressed interest in building ARM-based chips for laptops. No top PC maker has announced an ARM laptop yet.

The ability to run Windows 8 across multiple chip architectures will provide more laptop buying options based on price and performance, said Jeff Clarke, vice chairman of global operations at Dell, during an analyst conference in Austin, Texas. Clarke did not say if Dell was building an ARM laptop.

Intel is feeling the heat of ARM's emergence, and is now thinking more about battery life in laptops than ever before, Clarke said. The ability to build thin and light laptops with ARM and x86 chips is good for the industry, Clarke said.

"I was pretty adamant that the death of the PC is way over-hyped. It will continue to grow. We're going to make them more useful," Clarke said.

To counter the growing ARM threat, Intel has said it would release chips in 2013 that match ARM on power consumption. Intel also introduced a class of laptops it calls "ultrabooks," which it said would blend tablet and laptop features. Intel has also introduced new power-efficient and faster 3D transistors for 22-nanometer chips, which will be produced starting later this year.