Intel and ARM in battle of MID way

Intel and ARM-based chipmakers are engaged in a 'land-grab' in the emerging market for mobile internet devices, says analyst iSuppli.

Senior wireless analyst Francis Sideco points out that Intel’s x86 platform has long been optimised for processing capability while ARM focused on power efficiency.

But just the new formats sit between the mobile phone and traditional computing platforms, so do their requirements.

Sideco said: "They need to be optimised for processing capability and power consumption at the same time. You cannot trade them off any more.

"The challenge for the x86 guys is to build on the processing power and optimise power consumption. Or is it easier for the ARM guys to build on the optimised power consumption and build up their processing power?"

He added, in a teleconference on a new report on MIDs: "There is a race right now for each of these camps to get their devices to the right level and it is still in flux. This year is going to be a telling year in terms of how the ecosystem starts aligning itself with partners and design wins."

He supplied a rather broader definition of MIDs than that first offered by Intel, saying they are basically existing formats upgraded with five basic capabilities: wireless connectivity, instant – or near instant – on, always connectable, a working-day (eight-hour) battery life, and maximum 8in screen.

On this definition some netbooks and ultra-mobile PCs qualify as MIDs. Other classes identified by Sideco include sat navs, media players, games consoles and ebooks, though by far the biggest market is cellphones.

He believes the market for non-cellphone MIDs will reach around 38 million units by 2012, with ebooks outselling games consoles and media players.