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ARM challenges Intel in the netbook market

by Scott Bicheno on 27 February 2009, 07:00

Tags: Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), ARM

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This all looks promising, but at the end of the day it's just a PowerPoint presentation. Taking on Intel in the real world is another matter entirely. There's massive market inertia in Intel's favour due to its enduring domination and then there's the matter of software, which has mostly been written to run on x86 processors.

"The most important considerations for consumers are now: price, connectivity and battery life," said Morris. "ARM platforms with operating systems like Ubuntu and Android are really going to take off."

The inference here is that, for things like web browsing and email people are going to be happy to use Linux and other open source applications, especially since they will be cheaper. "The floor is going to be email, web and DVD playback on a $200 or, in China, 1,000 RMB (~$140) device," said Morris.

Here are some slides illustrating this point: