Ref <Note that Bryant said the "Networking Division and the Mobile Communications division". Does that include the non-mobile communications businesses, where Intel has made the majority of it's investments? Mobile communications, at this point, is primarily flash >
Mobile includes all the chips for next generation cellular and some of Intel's new architecture platforms.
The new Communication Group was formed by combining the old Networking Division( which included a lot of non-mobile communications), and the Mobile Communications Group. I look forward to some pruning in the new Communication Group within a year, in line with Barret's statements.
The uncertainty and the confusion in the communication space which I discussed earlier, plays to Intel's advantage. If the technology and the business were well defined, it would be impossible to unseat the existing incumbents in this space like Lucent, Motorola, NT etc. The old line telecommunication companies have excellent technology, but are used to the stability and the predictability of the old world of communication. This unsettling era has them confused and unsure of which way to proceed! This is an ideal situation for new startups or a new predator like Intel, which has been hardened and toughened by the the brutal and incessant competition of the chip and microprocessor business !
However Intel is less focused than before. A few years ago Intel had only one or two computing architectures. Now it is pursuing four. Plus the uncertainty of the new communication business and the headaches of absorbing the new acquisitions. The poorer focus has lead to worse execution in the bread and butter x86 space. However the damage is not permanent , and is minor. AMD was on the ropes struggling to survive two years ago. Now it has been reinvigorated by a few Intel missteps. However I believe that it has peaked out.
I agree that the communication foray is a gamble. However Intel is one of the few companies which can afford to take the gamble, and have a reasonable chance of success. |
