Intel Corp (INTC)

[ibc]

Imagine if Intel went up against Apple

This sounds like a good way to flush cash down the toilet. Why do you suppose Samsung and Apple take most of the profit share where others are marginal players? HTC has a very nice phone yet it's struggling with revenues falling off a cliff.

Samsung took 95% of Android smartphone profit share in Q1/13.
http://www.strategyanalytics.com/default.aspx?mod=pressreleaseviewer&a0=5362

Other than perhaps a 20-30% faster CPU, what does Intel bring to the table?

Frankly. they don't have the ingredients to do it.

Manufacturing/component supply chain for assembly, displays, flash, DRAM etc? Nope.
Low component costs due to economies of scale? Nope.
Broad carrier relationships? Nope.
Smartphone patent portfolio? Nope.
Differentiated non-CPU features like modem/video/camera/sensors/gps? Nope.
User visible software differentiation? Nope.
Smartphone brand development? Nope.
Multi-billion dollar marketing campaigns aligned with carriers that helps them sell data plans? Nope.

Hint: These are things that Apple and Samsung do better than everyone else.