Intel (INTC) today made some announcements regarding mobile phones at the Mobile World Congress taking place in Barcelona, Spain, including a deal with Chinese vendor ZTE to use Intel’s “Atom” processor, and deals with European carrier Orange and India’s Lava to use the technology.
Raymond James chip analyst Hans Mosesmann filed a brief to clients this afternoon after attending Intel CEO Paul Otellini’s talk at the conference, writing that the announcements, while minor, nevertheless are part of a determined strategy that should pay off for Intel in mobile down the road.
Mosesmann, who has a Market Perform rating on shares of Intel, thinks the most important point emphasized by Otellini was Intel’s plan to cut in half within mobile the normal time it takes Intel to transition to smaller chips.
Intel intends to double the rate of Moore�s Law in the mobile space. This encapsulates a 22nm process node transition in 2013 followed by a 14nm move in 2014, much quicker than the company�s typical tick-tock cadence that involves a process node shrink every other year. Make no mistake. Intel means to be a significant player in mobile and this process node commitment will ensure this in our opinion.
On the other hand, Nomura Equity Research’s Romit Shah, who has a “Reduce” rating on Intel stock and a $23 price target, listened to the presentation as well, and was underwhelmed, even though he concurs Intel is “making progress” in mobile chips, pointing out that revenue won’t be meaningful until 2014 “given the lack of support from major OEMs.”
Intel shares today are up 27 cents, or 1%, at $26.97.
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