ARM processors are used in Apple's iPad and have generated the company a significant amount of revenue. Warren East, ARM Ceo has said that he doesn't believe Intel will be a competitive threat in this sector.
Warren East told the Financial Times that sales of Tablet PC's next year could increase to around 60 million units, most of which will contain ARM processors. He said that while a few units will certainly use the ATOM processor, he was quick to point out the drain on battery. “Atom designs are just not good enough in terms of power consumption [right now]. Intel knows this,” said East.
Apple's iPad dominates the tablet sector and this has been a key focal point for ARM as they have sold million of processors from this range alone. The iPad is so strong that Strategy Analytics research firm claim that this product alone made up 95% of tablet sales in the last quarter.
CES next year will see a whole new range of tablet machines from other leading manufacturers, keen to get a piece of the sales.
East is a realistic however and he said that he wasn't totally optimistic about next years sales. He admitted concerns that electronics spend may weaken in the coming months. “You can’t avoid that, it’s like the weather. We’re concerned that it might rain. There are clouds up there, but what we’ve experienced in 2009 was that Arm still outperformed the industry in a down year.”
KitGuru says: Intel unable to make a dent in this market? share your views.
I wouldnt be so quick to dismiss Intel in this market.