It is no secret that recently Intel has struggled in the mobile chipset market. This is particularly in respect to smartphones as they just cannot seem to adopt a strong enough foothold in what is quickly becoming a crowded market. This is because companies like Qualcomm and MediaTek are making grounds quickly and getting their chips into mobile devices at a rapidly steady rate. It was even reportedly recently that Intel did manage to ship their earlier in the year proposed number of chips although this was largely due to having to subsidize those chipsets in an attempt to allure manufacturers to use them.
Well, 2015 is a new year and it looks like Intel plans to hit next year on the ground running. That said, it does seem that the direction taken next year will be a bit of a sidestep for the company The latest reports is that Intel will power two new 4G devices manufactured by Lenovo in the first few months of the year. What is interesting, is that these two devices are especially going to be engineered towards specific markets. One of the devices will be aimed towards ’emerging markets’ and will land in early January. The other Lenovo Intel-powered device will be geared specifically towards the ever-expanding Chinese market and is due to land sometime in February.
Although both devices will be equally important for Intel as they will be separately intended to gain some ground in these newer markets, the Chinese Lenovo device will mark Intel’s first foray into a China-based 4G smartphone. This will prove particularly important for Intel as gaining space here will be a big win for the company in an area where Qualcomm are currently having their own issues. The chips in question will consist of Intel’s 64-bit Atom processor and and also their LTE-Advanced Modem chips. The latter of these two is expected to be Intel’s best chance at rivaling the now common Snapdragon chip offered by Qualcomm. Of course, whether OEM’s are attracted to Intel’s future options remain unseen. However, with CES fast approaching in January and both Intel and Lenovo expected to be in attendance, it might not be long before we get to see what these devices will be like.