Intel delays Broxton soc for high-end smartphones and tablets until 2016
Intel will launch the Broxton soc for high-end mobile products in 2016. The quad-core produced at 14nm comes later than Intel initially promised. The processor will probably have to compete with powerful Snapdragons and Exynos socs.
At last week’s investor meeting, Hermann Eul, general manager of the Mobile and Communications Group, provided an update on Intel’s mobile roadmap. In addition, Broxton is planned for the performance segment in 2016, where the chip was planned for 2015 in previous communications from Intel. Broxton is a quad-core soc for smartphones and tablets that Intel considers so-called ‘Hero Devices’ and with which the group wants to compete with the flagship processors of the competition. In addition, there will be SoFIA quadcores that Intel will not have made at TSMC, like the other SoFIA socs, but will manufacture itself using its 14nm process.
Intel said it is working hard to earn more from its mobile chips. The mobile arm of the chip giant suffered a loss of one billion dollars in October, converted 790 million euros. The division achieved a turnover of only one million dollars, or 790,000 euros.
In 2015, the Bay Trail and Moorefield socs produced at 22nm with Silvermont cores should continue to serve the mainstream and high-end segment, supplemented by new Cherry Trail socs. Those chips with Airmont cores will go into mass production in early 2015 and will be produced at 14nm. They should, among other things, bring performance improvements in the field of graphics.
For the basic and entry-level segment, Intel will release a large number of SoFIA chips in 2015. This concerns socs with Atom cores from Intel, but Rockchip takes care of the other integration on the chips, while TSMC takes care of the chip production. With these entry-level processors, Intel is trying to gain a share in the market for, for example, cheap Android devices.
Delivery of dual-core SoFIAs will start at the end of 2014. The quad-cores will follow in the first half of 2015, and the SoFIA chips with integrated LTE connectivity should follow in mid-2015. In 2016, Intel will again manufacture the entry-level SoFIAs itself and the Socs will then receive a new generation of LTE modems.