Comments on: An Atom-powered Intel? Not a chance

Is Intel's new Atom processor a new power source for the company, or just a flash in the pan?

[kkrewell]

Yahoo picked up on this blog comments:
http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/article/9936/Intel's-Atom-Small-News-for-Investors?tickers=intc,aapl,rimm
Peter, while I agree with most your comments, I do think this is a significant attempt by Intel to extend the PC model further down to lower price points (without the subsidized business model of cell phones with the carriers). Of course, Intel wants to maintain its prized margins, so the die is very small but the price, not so much.

I'm just curious to see how its performance compares with a Dothan Pentium M class processor. On the surface it looks like the de-evolution of the PC processor.

[thriftyT]

"And most people don't need a 5" to 7" display for basic Web browsing... at least, not enough to actually carry one around. And if you can carry something too large for a pocket, you can carry a small notebook PC that can handle a traditional notebook CPU."

I can't disagree with your logic, but I differ with you on the assumptions you make above.

I believe that people would love to have a 7" display instead of squinting at a cell phone screen.
I believe that most people that would love to have a 7" to 9"-screened machine do not carry a small notebook because of cost. Subnotebooks cost ~ $2000

Judging from the low power consumption of the Atom (relative to conventional notebook CPUs), the low cost (~$125) and a processor that packs equivalent processing power to a G5 processor...

The possibility of a $600-$800 sub sub notebook with 8 hrs of battery life running XP or a lite-Leopard (Full Lepoard?!!!)and an 8" screen becomes tantalizing.

[Peter N. Glaskowsky]

I agree that even slightly larger displays are much better for web browsing than typical smartphone screens. But the problem is that there's also a step function in portability here. A device even slightly larger than a cellphone is much less portable.

I've thought about this overnight and I'd like to say that the situation is generally better for women who carry purses and anyone who constantly carries a backpack, messenger bag, etc., since a MID is much more practical for these carrying systems than a laptop is.

I still don't think there are enough people in this position to create much of a market for MIDs, though. When you go to bars, restaurants, movie theaters, etc. you still don't see most people carrying anything that could contain a MID, and unless a MID is _always_ with you it basically isn't worth buying.

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[sridhar1803]

What were people carrying around before they started carrying around Laptops ? Nothing. But yet laptops caught on because of their utlity value and the usefulness of having one with you all the time. I am sure there would have been sceptics saying laptops are too heavy, too costly.

Even if you take cellphones, compare the avrerage size & weight of a 3G-cellphone to a non 3G one. The 3G ones are larger (with larger screens) & heavier. Many people prefer a smaller phone with no fancy features because the screen is so small and interface clunky anyway. So why bother ?

Any disadvantage a MID has in terms of form factor can be overcome by offering the right level of functionality. That shouldn't be difficult considering that these will be carrying X86 chips inside.

[Peter Glaskowsky]

Well, my point is that people DON'T carry around laptops.

Yes, 3G phones are larger than non-3G phones, but there's still a critical limit to how big they can be. I have an i-Mate Jasjar (aka the HTC Universal), which was an early 3G/Windows Mobile 5 smartphone with a VGA screen. It's WAY too big for most people to carry around, but it's still much smaller than any MID.

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[Atomic_Teeda]

Looks like Intel is running out of Atom chips not because they are under the committed shipment volume but because the demand is extremely high. At least manufacturors are excited about Atom and see a lot of potential in the use of it. We'll see if the consumer will eat the hype up or not. But one thing I agree with you Peter is that demand/market for Atom is probably not big enough to overtake the microprocessor core-business of Intel. I guess that arguement is irrelavent if the company is going to make a lot of money anyways.