Rumor: Intel to scrap SoFIA and Broxton socs for smartphones and tablets
Intel is rumored to be halting SoFIA and Broxton socs projects to focus on modems and 5G technology. The scrapping of the plans to further develop socs for smartphones would be part of the extensive reorganization.
The rumor comes from Forbes, which claims to have heard from sources that management has decided to close SoFIA and Broxton to free up money and manpower for modem and 5G technology. Intel makes the SoFIA socs for cheap smartphones, partly in collaboration with the Chinese manufacturer Rockchip, while Broxton was intended for high-end devices.
On a recent roadmap, the LTE versions of SoFIA were planned for this year and Broxton for the end of this year, after being delayed several times. Last week, Intel announced a major restructuring that would result in thousands of layoffs. The possible scrapping of the smartphone projects was not mentioned at the time, but Intel CEO Brian Krzanich only mentioned ‘mobile’ once in the explanation of the new strategy and in that context it could also be tablet or 2-in-1 chips. to go.
Intel has invested billions in mobile phone chips in recent years, but has barely gained a foothold in that market, which is dominated by ARM chips. With the strong growth in the smartphone market appearing to have subsided and the PC market shrinking year on year, the investments would become increasingly difficult to justify. Under the new strategy, Intel will focus on chips for cloud services and data centers, ‘connected’ devices including PCs and the Internet of Things, memory and programmable chips such as FPGAs, connectivity such as 5G and the maintenance of Moore’s Law. In the latter, Intel faces increasing competition from TSMC and Samsung.
According to Forbes, Intel will continue to focus on PC chips as its main source of revenue, especially in segments with growth potential, such as gaming and 2-in-1 laptop-cum-tablets. In the mobile area, Intel hopes to play an important role with 5G technology and in terms of modems, the company also sees growth opportunities. Rumors have been going around for some time that Intel will partly provide the modems for the iPhone 7.
On Thursday, Intel announced that Diane Bryant of the Data Center Group has been promoted to the role of executive vice president at Intel. Initially there were rumors that Aicha Evans had resigned from the mobile arm, but Fortune recently reported that Krzanich had convinced the general manager of the Communication and Devices Group to stay.