E-BUSINESS SPECIAL REPORT
The High-Tech Business of Mobile Device Chips

Why is Intel seeking new terrain when it is the undisputed king of its traditional PC turf? The answer is that even though the wireless market is in a slump, it is still hotter than other technology niches. Intel does not want to miss the boat.

"Intel's vision is to have Intel silicon in all mobile devices," Intel spokesperson Christine Vermes told the E-Commerce Times.

Banias Boost?

Code-named "Banias," the company's new notebook chipset "is the first example of Intel delivering a product that embodies the convergence of computing and wireless communications," according to Vermes. Banias offers long battery life and is suitable for thin, light devices. It also has WiFi capability for short-range, super-fast wireless connectivity.

The new Banias chipset is a complement to Intel's XScale line. XScale processors already are used in many handhelds, such as those from Palm (Nasdaq: PALM) . But despite appearances, cell phones and handhelds may not be Intel's real target.

"Intel's objective is to do everything they can to use wireless technology to enhance the sales of their computer microprocessors," Gartner (NYSE: IT) analyst Stan Bruederle told the E-Commerce Times.

Sparking Buyer Interest

Wireless connections let users access e-mail, play games and surf the Web. As such, wireless technology is seen by Intel and many others as a way to jog consumer interest in buying all types of computers and computer-cell phone combo devices. Such a surge, in turn, could boost sales of Intel PC chips, Bruederle said.

Research firm IDC estimates that some 90 percent of all mobile computers will be wirelessly enabled by 2004. That convergence of wireless communication and computing creates a potential sweet spot for both Intel's PC chips and wireless chips. "All computing devices will communicate, and all communication devices will compute," Vermes said.

Intel Challenging TI

Most gizmos contain a variety of chips from different companies, according to Bruederle. While all wireless devices need communications, memory and applications chips, the architecture differs greatly between cell phones and PCs and notebooks. The same chips cannot work in all devices.

Xscale is part of Intel's effort to move into the baseband area, Bruederle said. Baseband chips, also called communications chips, are present in all wireless gadgets. Currently, the market for these chips is dominated by Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) , which holds more than 50 percent share.

TI's Open Multimedia Applications Protocol, or OMAP, chips are used in devices made by Fujitsu, Siemens and others, TI's vice president and general manager of OMAP, Alain Mutricy, told the E-Commerce Times.

On October 28th, Palm launched its new Tungsten handheld device, which uses OMAP. Its entrenched position and broad customer base will keep TI a step ahead of challengers, according to Mutricy. "So far, we've been able to do a better job than Intel," he said.

Besides TI, Intel also must contend with Motorola (NYSE: MOT) and Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM) , the other two of the top three wireless chipmakers. In 2001, Motorola sold US$1.5 billion in wireless chips, Bruederle noted. TI sold $1.45 billion, and Qualcomm sold $1.4 billion. Intel and rival AMD (NYSE: AMD) did not even make the top 10.

Growing Chip Market

Gartner estimates that sales of semiconductors, including wireless ones, for handheld devices will grow from $16.3 billion in 2002 to $24.1 billion in 2005. In contrast, sales of PC chips, including wireless ones, will grow from $34 billion this year to $48.5 billion by 2005.

PC chips tend to cost much more and generate more revenue than chips for cell phones. But the cell phone chip market is appealing to Intel because of the staggering number of units expected to be sold, said Bruederle. Only about 100 million PCs will be sold this year, compared with some 400 million cell phones. And by 2005, cell phone unit sales will surpass 500 million, he noted.

This is a market in which TI aims to maintain its dominance, but Intel also wants a larger piece of this lucrative territory. About a month ago, TI announced plans for a cell phone technology that combines many processors onto a single chip. It is set to hit the market in 2004, according to Mutricy. Intel has similar plans, he said, but they will not come to fruition until years later.