Intel Corp (INTC)

[VeeCee]

Here is some positive on Intel process technology lead.
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Qualcomm: Drexel Cuts to Hold; Intel’s Process Advantage Threatens Mobile Chip Share

By Tiernan Ray

Shares of Qualcomm (QCOM) are down 50 cents, or 0.7%, at $70.88, in early trading, after Drexel Hamilton’s Rick Whittington cut his rating on the shares to Hold from Buy, and slashed his target to $75 from $100, writing that “process and competitive questions reduce visibility.”

In addition to unresolved legal issues for the company, such as the ongoing investigation by China’s government, Qualcomm faces heightened challenges from Intel (INTC), Whittington believes.

Intel’s semiconductor process technology overtakes that of contract chip makers such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM) that are tasked with making Qualcomm’s chips:

Intel moving quickly to 14nm Trigate, leading-edge Qualcomm parts are still coming out on 20nm planar processes, older ones on 28nm planar. Tier-one foundries slow to efficaciously ramp 14nm/16nm FinFET limit QCOM ability to reduce power consumption while upping performance Intel is also appears set on commoditizing low-mid-range LTE for incorporation in their mobile processor offerings, conjuring a price war. Intel looks to incorporate its lesser but increasingly capable LTE baseband into now essentially free, or even subsidized, app. processors.

Despite the risk to application processors, Qualcomm’s lead in the most advanced baseband processors remains “intact,” he writes.