Intel intends to make big money this year thanks to its tablet-based solutions and they also intend to offer subsidies for tablet makers who sign up. Their average subsidy per tablet is estimated at a pretty impressive $51, which is a lot, especially for smaller companies.
This will allow Intel to get a strong footing in China, competing with the likes of Rockchip, Allwinner and MediaTek even. Digitimes reports that Intel is pricing its mainstream quad core Bay Trail-T SoC at a mere $5, which is very affordable for an x86 quad core chip. The Bay Trail-T is quite a bit faster than entry level ARM SoCs used on white box table models nowadays.
Since it’s a modern chip it can be used on devices like Windows 8.1 tablets and hybrids, so new formats can be expected from white box makers. I wouldn’t be surprised if Intel’s newfound generosity was somehow boosted by some Microsoft financing, since they’d do basically anything to make Windows take off. They’re already offering license reductions for Windows 8.1 or free licenses to device makers to name just a measure.
