Replies to post #121443 on Intel Corp (INTC)

[This Causes an Error]

LTE is pretty much yes/no. After a certain point, who gives a shit how fast your stuff downloads? It's like WiFi...yeah, faster WiFi is better, but as long as it's good enough + doesn't cut out on me, I'm happy as a clam.

I'm much more interested in how smoothly my apps run.

[chipguy]

Isn't it reasonable to assume that Qualcomm has as much relative strength in the modem device and NVidia in the graphics, as Intel has in CPU's ?

The modern x86 CPU core is one of the most complex machines ever
designed. Over a period of decades AMD mastered this technology
far better than anyone else... except for Intel. AMD achieved far more
than any other x86 competitor but Intel is light years ahead of AMD.
Everyone else is roadkill.

In comparison modem and GPU technology is very complex in absolute
terms but of a much lower order than CPU design. Haswell and Bay
Trail are not simply the results of large and bright design teams. They
build on the top of the accumulated institutional knowledge of a long
succession of huge engineering efforts that produced Sandy Bridge,
Nehalem, Core2D, Merom and so on back decades and lessons learned
at every stage (even the unhappy ones like Prescott). The only player
that can still get close to Intel is IBM and that is mainly the result of
process, package, and system partitioning tricks only applicable when
you only sell your processors in 5+ figure boxes larded with expensive,
high margin software, storage, and service contracts (a business model
continuing to break down under Intel driven x86 pressure).

BTW, in Q1 Intel had 62% market share in PC graphics vs 20% for AMD
and 18% for Nvidia according to JPR.

[Saturn V]

Isn't it reasonable to assume that Qualcomm has as much relative strength in the modem device and NVidia in the graphics, as Intel has in CPU's ?

NVDIA dominates high end graphics, and even that will be in doubt when the Haswell Iris with on chip graphics memory is released. Should have happened by now. But in phones and tablets, which are less graphics intensive, any such lead is irrelevant.

Qualcomm does indeed have a lead in LTE modem technology. Intel already released its XMM 7160 LTE chip, which is being used by the Samsung Tablet. This chip was ranked by an external consultant as the best LTE chip. However Qualcomm leads in having aLTE integrated with the CPU. Intel has a similar product for 2014. Qualcomm is the incumbent and is liable to have better communications IP, and so in the phone space it will be a horse race. However in the tablet space, Intel is likely to dominate in the coming 12 months.

But a big chunk of the mobile space is Apple. Will it switch its tablets and phones to Intel, and when ? Heaven alone knows !