Replies to post #136603 on Intel Corp (INTC)

[mmoy]

One of the upsides in using Bay Trail is that a customer that doesn't like Chrome could put Windows on it. I looked at their current configuration 2 GB RAM/16 GB Flash, probably will be a 4 GB option - and that's big enough for a small Windows 8.1 installation with a little space for data - and you'd use OneDrive for a lot of your stuff.

[biosbob]

re: Samsung uses Bay Trail for its new Chromebook

Intel needs to work harder to keep google happy with its processors. Google Chromebooks use coreboot (not UEFI) firmware. The founder of coreboot works at google now. He recommends using ARM processors instead of Intel because Intel is so difficult to work with. In this case, he complains about Intel not supplying needed source code:

If you really want a high quality, blob-free, open platform, you're
probably best off with ARM, and a good choice is the new Acer 13:
coreboot, no blobs, and it's really fine hardware at least for me.

His use of "blob" refers to binaries that Intel gives to google (and the open source coreboot project). Source code is needed instead.

[fastpathguru]

Samsung uses Bay Trail for its new Chromebook. It seems that Intel is not willing to give Chrome OS to the ARM crowd and they are obviously willing to price agressively to achieve this. I think this is very important. If Chrome OS really manages to gain significant desktop and laptop share, Intel needs to dominate this ecosystem in order to make ARM the incompatible choice here. The more popular Chrome OS becomes, the more people will be willing to pay a premium for Intel's Core I processors, which maintains Intel's high margins.

By the way: Since Chrome OS is about to integrate Android Apps, Intel's mobile efforts for Android once more pay off. Also the lowest end Chrome devices couldn't economically be equipped by Intel without Bay Trail. This is how Intel keeps ARM out of its major business - the PC.

Everything you just said is about things Intel needs to do just to be a player in the chromebook market...

I don't see how helping to grow and legitimize a non-PC ecosystem helps Intel's PC business... A business which ARM is already "out of."

fpg