Intel managed to get its Atom-based Clover Trail+ chipset into at least one version of Samsung Electronics' forthcoming Galaxy Tab 3 10.1, according to a Reuters report. Intel has been struggling to break into the mobile market and getting a major design win with Samsung could boost its prospects.
The report, which cited an unnamed source, came shortly after CNET reported that the new Galaxy Tab would use a dual-core 1.6GHz Intel Atom CloverTrail+ chip. CNET's report also cited unnamed sources. Samsung is reportedly going to unveil the new Galaxy Tab at the Computex trade show, which starts June 4 in Taipei, Taiwan.
Representatives for Samsung and Intel declined to comment, according to Reuters.
Samsung uses Intel processors for its Ativ-branded tablets running Microsoft's (NASDAQ:MSFT) Windows 8 platform, but has long opted to use chipsets based on architecture from ARM Holdings for its Android devices, which is why an Intel design win would be so significant. Samsung is the world's second-largest tablet maker after Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL). Intel and Samsung work closely together on the open-source Tizen platform as well.
While Apple's iPad represented 50 percent of all tablets shipped worldwide during the first quarter of 2013, Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android is poised to pull ahead of iOS in the months ahead, according to a new report from ABI Research.
"The fact is that Samsung has a bigger name in wireless than Intel does," Forward Concepts analyst Will Strauss told FierceWireless. "I think the big deal for Intel is, wow, they've got a big name."
Strauss noted that tablets don't sell in the volumes that smartphones do, but if the news is accurate it would be significant for Intel considering the vendor does not have many high-profile mobile design wins yet.
Days after officially taking over as Intel's top executive earlier this month, CEO Brian Krzanich reorganized the company's businesses to give himself more direct control. The company also formed a new unit to focus on "new devices" outside of smartphones and tablets. Krzanich has promised a renewed emphasis on mobile.
Even though it is the world's largest silicon maker, in mobile Intel is trying to catch up to companies that use designs from ARM, including Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM), Nvidia, Samsung Electronics, Broadcom and MediaTek. ZTE, Google's Motorola Mobility, Lenovo and others have agreed to use Intel chips in some of their smartphones, but Intel still trails its peers in mobile design wins.
For more:
- see this Reuters article
- see this CNET article
- see this separate CNET article
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