Intel wants a piece of the mobile chipset market, and for that it inked a deal with ARM to manufacture ARM-based chips in its own facilities.
The partnership was unveiled during the Intel Developer Forum and marks a tactical move from the company. In its infrastructure, Intel counts custom chip manufacturing factories that come with 10-nanometer production lines, as well as third parties that are using rival technologies.
As per the licensing agreement, Intel will deliver chips specially crafted for Spreadtrum, LG Electronics, Altera and Netronome.
A general manager in ARM's physical design group stated that Intel's involvement with his company is able to "make a real difference" in global chip manufacturing.
Alongside ARM's 64-bit cores, Intel will deliver a variety of hardware components that are being used by the likes of Apple, Nvidia, Qualcomm and other companies to create their chips. Keep in mind that ARM's design is among the most used in powering mobile phones, with rivals from Qualcomm not far behind.
The Intel-ARM partnership is a good memento that the former was caught on the wrong foot by the mobile revolution. Intel had been the go-to choice for PC chipsets for decades, but it was unable to hold its ground in the mobile sector against competitors such as Samsung or Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC). With PC sales dropping, Intel needed to shift its sails to attract new customers. With its existing foundry infrastructure, the company will boost its presence in the mobile chipset world even if this means simply crafting chips designed by others.
Despite the image blow that Intel might be receiving after the deal, rumors about the company discussing such a move had already been circulating. A while ago, rumors surfaced that Apple is in talks with Intel to build chips for the iPad and the iPhone, as both devices rely on ARM-based architecture in their chipsets.
The rumor was backed by the fact that Apple has been outsourcing the manufacturing of its Ax chip family to Samsung for a while now. As Samsung is Apple's biggest rival, it makes sense for the iPhone manufacturer to want as few ties as possible with its South Korean competitor.
Thanks to the new ARM deal, Intel can now look forward to grabbing its share of the iPhone chip business. This depends on whether or not the company manages to seal the deal with Apple, of course.
Seeing how soon the iPhone 7 is to be released, and considering existing reports that Apple dropped Samsung and signed with TSMC for the production of the A11 chip for next year's iPhone, Intel might have to wait some time before tapping into Apple's resource pool.
LG, however, will be on top of the list for Intel's new service. According to the company, the South Korean OEM wants to deliver a "world-class mobile platform" of its own design, which could be centered around ARM IP and likely destined for release in a smartphone. Until recently, LG worked with Qualcomm or smaller manufacturers to supply its chip needs.
