Stefan Mileschin

Intel is attempting to bolster its flagging position in the mobile chips market. The company will now be offering 22nm SoCs, coupled with its 3D tri gate transistors and 22nm fabrication process.

Announced earlier this week at the 2012 International Electron Devices Meeting in San Francisco, the company said integrating these processes will help boost battery life and speed in mobile devices. It said the new SoC process will create transistors that are 22 percent to 65 percent faster than 32-nanometer flavours.

According to the Wall Street Journal, it may not be as simple as plugging in these chips and waiting to see the results, with industry experts torn on whether they will benefit the mobile products market in real terms. There are fears however that integrating the two could distort the SoC system, with the WSJ claiming that any new technology process could shrink the size of circuitry inside chips, and as a result reduce the efficiency.

Another concern is cost, with the possibility that Intel could end up struggling with competition. Although it hasn't announced its SoC pricing, other components of its Atom family start at $42 compared to other SoCs in smartphones, which cost between $5 and $20.

Intel's Kaizad Mistry, a vice president in Intel's manufacturing group, recently saying he found the concerns "frankly quite baffling."

http://news.techeye.net/chips/intel-...le-chip-market