Electronics Weekly Electronics Design & Components Tech News
Spreadtrum tells me they will continue to make ARM-based mobile ICs following the investment by Intel in Spreadtrum’s owner, Tsinghua Unigroup.
Intel said it would pay $1.5 billion for 20% of Tsinghua Unigroup earlier this week.
Intel’s CEO said at the time that: “This partnership will also enhance our ability to support a wider range of mobile customers in China and the rest of the world by more quickly delivering a broader portfolio of Intel architecture and communications technology solutions.”
It was said that x86-based mobile ICs would be designed by Spreadtrum and Intel and would be marketed by both companies sometime next year.
However it seems that even $1.5 billion doesn’t buy exclusivity and Spreadtrum will continue to design and market ARM-based mobile ICs.
Well of course we don’t know what the details of the deal are Mike, but if Intel has paid $1.5bn just to persuade Spreadtrum to have some x86-based mobile ICs in its catalogue, then those ICs may just as well continue to be designed in Munich, fabbed at TSMC and badged as Spreadtrum. I can’t think why Spreadtrum would want to spend its own resources developing ICs around a second processor architecture if it can get some perfectly good Bavarian chips sent over from Munich.
How buying shares of Spreadtrum impacts Intel´s activity in Germany – Munich? I mean former Infineon. Seems part of Intel in Munich redundant now?