Intel's XScale unit on the auction block?
posted June 7th 2006 12:14AM
$250 million in revenue sure doesn't get you as far as it used to. The Mercury News is reporting that Intel's XScale group, whose PXA-series application processors power many a modern smartphone (not to mention embedded devices of all sorts), might be on a laundry list of Intel groups and subsidiaries the chip-monger is looking to offload in an effort to focus on its core businesses (read: make money). XScale is certainly one of the larger groups on the block, and with a reported $250M in revenue last year, we imagine they're profitable -- leaving us to wonder why Intel wants the quick hit of cash in exchange for abandoning the increasingly vital mobile segment. It wouldn't be the first time an industry giant's moves have bewildered us; we guess that's what makes them bean counters, and us bloggers.
It's because Intel has stated quite clearly that they plan to transition to x86-based embedded processing. XScale is in their roadmap a sunk cost... and they will continue to woo device makers with x86-based Windows Mobile. Microsoft will probably enter the folly with Rosetta-like RISC-to-x86 translators to make the transition easy as well.
I'd imagine that a fair amount of that $250m revenue goes straight in royalty payments to ARM. A chip manufacturer the size of Intel, with huge R&D resources, shouldn't really be relying upon the IP of a small Cambridgeshire company spun out of the company that used to make BBC and Archimedes computers!
AMD should buy it, and then demlish it. THeir Allchemy chip is better for mobiles. But of course, no one is using it, really.
Its to bad. THe only thing you really need an xscale for is WinMO devices, because they suck so much CPU power - damn bloated OS. If Symbian was running on that thing, it would scream bloody murder. :)
I know some people that deliberaltly choose Xscale processors over others when buying a pocket pc, like samsung. This is a sure fire way of upsetting some people.