Intel takes a chip off ARM
SHARES in microprocessor company ARM dropped yesterday on news that rival chip-maker Intel has partnered with Motorola and will enter the smartphone market later this year.
Motorola announced at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas that the Lenovo K800 smartphone, featuring the Intel Atom processor and operating on the Android platform, will be available as soon as this summer.
Intel chief executive Paul Otellini said, “The best of Intel computing is coming to smartphone. Our efforts will provide a solid foundation from which to build in 2012 and into the future.”
Intel said the chip could later be used for tablet devices.
Motorola, the Chicago-based telecoms company which popularised the “flip phone” in the 1990s, is in the process of being acquired by Google for $12.5bn (£8bn).
Shares in ARM, the Cambridge-based software design company considered to be the dominant player in the mobile phone chip market, closed down 2.6 per cent at 588.5p.