In case you’re wondering why Intel is in bed with Android lately, it may be because the partnership with Microsoft was dragging them down. It’s no wonder they’re losing billions of dollars on tablet and smartphone CPUs… In the mobile business it’s all Qualcomm nowadays and even Nvidia is having a hard time adjusting.
MediaTek is also increasing rapidly in popularity, as is Allwinner, Rockchip and a few more smaller players. Also, there are those handset makers with their own solutions, like Apple, Huawei and Samsung to name just 3. LG is also working on its own chip, so the pack is increasing. In 2012 Intel’s mobile chip division lost $1.78 billion and then they lost $3.15 billion in 2013.
At the end of the first quarter of 2014 alone they were down $929 million in operating loss on $156 million in revenue. Some say Intel may give this up alltogether and focus on desktop and laptops, while other say that the company is in for profit in the long run. Meanwhile, I have to remind you that the first Intel chips with integrated 4G LTE will be released in late 2015 or early 2016 and by that time South Koreans may already be playing with 5G.
Intel did get some profit, scoring $1.9 billion on $12.8 billion revenue in Q1.
