There was a time when Intel and AMD were butting heads just about every week, fighting to gain the hearts of general consumers, gamers and enthusiasts alike. Then AMD seemingly took a step back to handle personal business and to let Intel thrive on the market, enough so that the competitor gathered its troops to invade the mobile sector. Now the war seems to be between ARM and Intel as the former invades the space of the latter and vice versa.
Tuesday ARM chief executive officer Tudor Brown said that Microsoft's upcoming Windows 8 OS – which we saw running on ARM-based SoCs back in January – will actually push its technology into 40-percent of the market's netbooks by 2015. He also estimated that ARM will command 85-percent of the tablet market in that same year.
According to Brown, ARM tried to enter the netbook sector once before with the launch of the Smartbook, but demand for the device was weak because consumers expected the same compatibility and performance seen with traditional laptops. He also said that consumers found the Android OS difficult to work with (even though Google's mobile OS wasn't built for the netbook environment).
But with Windows 8, he believes that ARM will finally be able to break into the netbook sector successfully, creating a brand new demand driver. The duo will seemingly take the emphasis off solving heating problems caused by current (Intel) x86 solutions and drive industry innovation, thus resulting in even lighter, cheaper, and longer lasting battery standards.
Later this month, netbooks shipping with Google's Chrome OS will begin to infiltrate the market. This should offer a more natural, native computing experience than those previously shipped with the Android OS. And as Softpedia points out, the biggest lure to netbooks is their overall lightweight appeal – lightweight in OS, price and weight while offering longer battery life.
Naturally Intel and AMD won't just step aside and let ARM walk on in uninvited. Intel has already cranked up its process technology for the Atom processors, and AMD is getting ready to launch its "Desna" Fusion SoC designed specifically for tablets. Both are working like mad scientists in lowering the thermal and power draws to match ARM's current level. ARM, on the other hand, is calling their bluff by cranking up the performance of its tech to meet the x86 giants.
Let the games for your wallet begin.
