Janak Parekh
06-08-2006, 03:00 PM
<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.eetimes.com/news/semi/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=188701421' target='_blank'>http://www.eetimes.com/news/semi/sh...cleID=188701421</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Troubled Intel Corp. has put several of its loss-ridden communications-chip businesses on the block, including its network processors, XScale chip lines and other products, according to a report from the San Jose Mercury News on Saturday (June 3). Intel spent more than $10 billion to enter the communications business over the years, but the microprocessor giant lost its shirt — if not millions of dollars in the arena. The reported communications-chip sale is said to be part of Intel’s plan to overhaul the company."</i><br /><br />We've had several submissions wondering what this means for Pocket PCs. Personally, I'm not worried about it. Intel is not the sole supplier of Pocket PC ARM-based processors; Samsung and TI are other notable manufacturers with their own lineups. XScale itself was based off a previous ARM CPU, known as StrongARM, which Intel purchased from DEC back in 1998 as part of a lawsuit agreement. It seems this is more due to an effort by Intel to refocus the company around the Core Duo processor technologies, especially in light of <a href="http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060607-7006.html">fierce AMD competition</a>.