Replies to post #19213 on Marvell Technology Inc (MRVL)

[peacecorps]

Intel is big-mouthing - Atom has to be significantly better than Xscale to have a chance, and I just cannot believe it can have much advantage over xscale. Remember the good-enough mp3? Well, there are mp3-pro, AAC, or even WMA which are better than mp3, but none can shake the status of mp3. How can Intel convince RIMM etc to switch? What about the costs for developing new Atom-based phones? The processor is only part of the story - even if Atom is 20% better than Xscale (computing power + energy efficient), the phone may only be 5% better - negligible.

Same thing for the HDD, SSD needs a long time to displace HDD. I say 5+ years.

I think SSD has a better shot than Atom to gain more acceptance in the next few years.

[finetoothcomb]

Johnberchick, you don't have to agree with me. But you do have to know your markets. Atom processors, the way they exist right now are for toys not enterprise mobile devices. In order to rule in the smartphone market you have to be dominant in 2 things. Price and battery life. Atom fails in both. It doesn't matter what the media is saying, they have to sell ads, so while it sounds good that Intel processor will be inside iPhones and Blackberries in the near future is a pipedream. Now we may see a Apple touchscreen MID with an Atom processor but that is a different animal. Arm processors are more than powerful enough to power devices with 3.5 inch screens.