TSMC’s Intel ARM

Here are some ramblings to follow up my February 10 post regarding Intel going after some of the ARM processor core market.
The Intel-TSMC announcement this week has set the media a-buzz with what the new collaboration could mean. Perhaps the case for Intel (or anyone with a viable processor design for that matter) going after a piece of the processor as IP-core market was obvious. After all, ARM has become ubiquitous as the brains running a huge chunk of the products in the market that aren’t standard Windows or Apple computers. Everything from phones to toys to cameras depend on data crunching provided by the boys (and girls) from Cambridge.
I guess branching out was really a no-brainer for Intel. Consider the analysis by VDC Research group as reported by Peter C. Clarke in EETimes. With little or no positive economic news these days, I’m sure the suggestion that embedded processors will “resist the financial crisis” was welcomed by Intel staff and its investors alike given their movement into that market.
Outsourcing wafer capacity to Taiwan is not really headline news these days – even for Intel who were already using TSMC for lots of their production requirements outside their flagship microprocessor lines. As one of my trusted Semiconductor Insights colleagues puts it, “add technology in the US, add capacity in Asia.” But the new alliance with TSMC really signals Intel’s understanding that the traditional PC market is not going to keep it on top of the semiconductor industry much longer.

Tags: embedded processor, intel, tsmc
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