Padding out the market
While TI is pretty strong in the mobile phone space it, like many other chipmakers - has identified the broader converged mobile device as a key sector for future growth. This is where the iPad comes in, as e-book/tablet type devices seem to have been identified as the way forward.
"Just look at the potential," said Mazzoleni. "Any student could use one and it could be two screens - one e-ink and the other LCD or whatever." TI announced a new development platform specifically for e-books based on the OMAP 3 family at this year's CES, but Mazzoleni reckons we're still at a very early stage in the evolution of the e-book, equating it to the SMS stage for phones.
When we asked Mazzoleni to compare the claims of OMAP with Qualcomm's Snapdragon, with its integrated 3G, and NVIDIA's Tegra, with its emphasis on graphics, Mazzoleni pointed to the platform's flexibility and optimisation for operating systems. He insisted it's easier to do more with OMAP.
TI is clearly going to have to share the convergent device market with not just those two, but Samsung, Freescale, Marvell, Renesas, Broadcom and, of course, Intel. However, the good news is that the market is growing and diversifying rapidly and there should be plenty of action to keep all of these chip companies happy.
The irony is that they have probably all benefitted from the newest entrant to the chip game. In launching its own chip Apple has decided to compete rather than partner with the likes of TI. But at the same time it has made mainstream consumers think about different kinds of converged devices in a way no other company can.
Apple will sell plenty of iPads because it's Apple, and will improve the spec such that many of the current criticisms no longer apply. But what it's really done with this launch is kick-start the converged device market in a way nobody, not even Microsoft, Intel, Google, Qualcomm or any other tech giants can. And for that, the whole industry should be grateful.
