Published in PC Hardware

Arm says its chips will be in 40 per cent of netbooks

by on08 June 2011

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Thanks Microsoft
Having Microsoft introduce its Windows system for Arm will mean that its chips will be under the bonnet of 40 per cent of netbooks by 2015, according to ARM's CEO. Chatting with Tom's Hardware the bloke who sounds like a Laura Ashley colour chart, ARM boss Tudor Brown, after adding up the numbers and dividing by his shoe size, worked out that ARM will command 85-percent of the tablet market in that same year.

ARM tried to enter the netbook sector once before with the launch of the Smartbook, but it turned out that people wanted the same compatibility and performance they got out of Intel netbooks and spurned it like a rabid dog.Punters did not want to see Android on notebooks or netbooks and were happier with Windows, Brown claimed.

With Windows 8, Brown believes that ARM will kick down the door of the netbook sector and bring an end to the heating problems caused by current (Intel) x86 chips. It will mean that the industry will create lighter, cheaper, and longer lasting battery standards, he said.

This is assuming of course that Chipzilla and its rival AMD will just let Arm walk in and take all their business. Intel is improving its process technology for the Atom processors, and AMD is getting ready to launch its "Desna" Fusion SoC designed specifically for tablets.

To be fair to Arm, both of them are a fair way behind lowering the thermal and power draws to match ARM's current level. Meanwhile Arm is cranking up the performance of its technology to see off the x86.

More here.


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