Another Shock for Intel: Samsung Electronics’ U.S. Branch Plans to Shift from Intel Processors to AMD Chips
Since launching the $1,100 ultra-mobile tablet Q1 in May, Samsung has experienced sluggish sales and disappointing revenue for this product.
Switching to a different chip could help reduce costs, making the Q1 more suitable for its target market of students, healthcare professionals, and business travelers, sources close to the matter revealed.
Intel Embarrassed, AMD Delighted
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| Source: Mobilemag |
Currently, the Q1 (also known by its code name Origami) runs on Microsoft Windows powered by an ultra-low voltage Intel Celeron M chip at 900 MHz. However, this fall, Samsung may replace this chip with an AMD processor, a report on Ars Technica indicated yesterday.
Being pushed out of the Q1 could be a significant embarrassment for Intel, which has been struggling with a challenging financial situation in recent quarters and losing considerable market share to competitor AMD.
Most of the losses stem from the server division, where AMD’s Opteron chip is making significant strides and outperforming both Intel’s Pentium and Itanium lines. Losing additional market share in ultra-mobile computing to AMD could be even more damaging, as Intel previously achieved significant success with its Centrino chip package for notebooks.
All three parties—AMD, Intel, and Samsung—declined to comment on this information.
Analysts Agree
This move would be a wise decision for Samsung, according to a consensus among analysts.
“Samsung needs to do everything possible to enhance the performance of the Q1 while also reducing its production costs“, stated Nicole D’Onofrio, a mobile computing expert at Current Analysis. “If they are looking for another partner, AMD would emerge as a top contender, as their Turion 64 chip is extremely competitively priced compared to Intel“.
Samsung launched the Q1 with a large marketing campaign in collaboration with Microsoft. According to their advertising, Microsoft’s Origami platform allows the Q1 to extend battery life while still running the complete version of Windows XP Tablet PC.
Additionally, the Q1 features a quick on/off function, allowing users to listen to music or watch movies without booting into Windows. Samsung’s Q1 is currently the only Origami device on the market. Taiwan’s Asus also plans to release a similar model named R2H this summer.
The Q1 is roughly the size of a handbag, weighing 1.7 pounds with a 40GB hard drive and a 7-inch touchscreen.
Heaven’s Will
