Further QA delays can put Intel in uncomfortable situations

Jul 2, 2015 09:22 GMT  ·  By

The launch of Intel's advanced mainstream CPU Atom x3 "SoFIA" will be delayed until early 2016, as the company needs to polish off its software.

The upcoming CPU dedicated for mobile platforms will come with integrated 4G/LTE baseband, and it will be the company's most advanced low-cost application software for smartphones and tablets.

It will feature four "Silvermont" system-on-chip 64-bit x86 cores that will operate at up to 1.40GHz. It will also come with the Mali-T720 graphics core made by ARM, boasting high-definition and UHD video support, together with a single-channel LPDDR2/DDR3L memory controller, integrated 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.1 LE technologies, as well as GSM/GPRS/EDGE/3G/4G cat 6 baseband capabilities.

DigiTimes reports that the CPU is ready to be fabricated at the biggest semiconductor factory in the world, the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., but it considers the delay necessary, as more software needs to be polished until early 2016.

Next gen is already here but awaits its scheduled timeframe release

However, Intel is also working on the 14nm versions of the CPU that's also under development in Taiwan and is slated to come out in late 2016. This delay for QA purposes will force the current-gen 28nm Atom x3 to compete with the next-gen Atom x3 on 14nm at the end of 2016. To overcome this uncomfortable situation, it is very likely that Intel will slash prices on the 28nm Atom x3 to compensate the delay.

Also because of this postponement, Intel will probably miss the business opportunities from the 4G market, which is projected to grow speedily in the second half of this year. Intel can pair its 4G/LTE XMM baseband chips with its other Atom x3 "SoFIA" application processors, but this will make smartphones based on such set of chips more expensive.

Being the ruler in 28nm CPU manufacturing and having a considerable lead in 14nm manufacturing, unlike Samsung, which still struggles in developing a good 14nm platform, Intel feels the weight of being ahead of the pack. Challenges like these can turn against the company fast if good market managing plans aren't developed on time to counter such rather trivial issues.