Intel still struggles in smartphones as ARM rivals move ahead

IDG News Service - It's been a year since the introduction of the first Intel Inside handset, but the company's struggles to break into the smartphone market continue as rivals Nvidia and Qualcomm improved speed and power efficiency of dominant ARM chips.

Intel at the International CES show this week unveiled a new reference design based on its Atom Z2420 chip for low-priced smartphones. Companies including Acer, Lava International and Safaricom will support the chip, which is a slower variant of the original Medfield chip introduced last year. Lenovo also announced the IdeaPhone K900 smartphone, which has a 5.5-inch screen and runs on the dual-core Atom Z2580 chip code-named Clover Trail+, which is built on the same chip platform used for Medfield.

While Intel's smartphone chip improvements were incremental, its rivals announced new chips that are faster and more power efficient. Nvidia announced the Tegra 4 chip, which is based on ARM's latest Cortex-A15 processor core, and also announced it would introduce a chip with an integrated LTE modem, although the company declined to comment on when the chips will become available in products. Qualcomm announced new smartphone chips, including the Snapdragon 800, which is up to 75 percent faster than existing Snapdragon S4 Pro chips.

Intel has been stacking up design wins, but none of its smartphones has been successful. Analysts said Intel has been slow in chip development and modem implementation, which has hampered its chances to succeed in smartphones. By the same token, the company is happy to have the few design wins, which are a sign that the x86 smartphone technology is being accepted.

Right now, Intel's biggest challenge is the lack of an Atom chip with integrated LTE capabilities, said Jack Gold, principal analyst at J. Gold Associates.

"That puts them at a disadvantage in the smartphone market in the U.S. and mature markets where LTE is becoming a check-mark requirement for new devices," Gold said.

Intel's Infineon wireless communications unit is working on a chip that combines an applications processor and LTE modem, but that is a few months away, Gold said. The introduction of that chip could provide a fighting chance for Intel to compete with Qualcomm, which already offers an integrated LTE modem in the Snapdragon S4 chip.

"The reason Intel has won some deals for smartphones in emerging markets is because LTE isn't critical for them. Qualcomm does have an integrated chip it can sell, and is doing so to great success," Gold said.

Qualcomm's S4 chip is used in popular smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy S III.

The real test for Intel will come in about a year, when the company's new chips will offer the same connectivity as its ARM rivals, Gold said.