Intel, Nokia both should win in partnership

The partnership Intel and Nokia announced on Tuesday to develop future mobile devices should help both companies, though analysts are skeptical whether it will result in any actual products.

The companies announced they were teaming up to develop new mobile computing devices and chipset architectures. They will also collaborate on several open-source mobile Linux projects.

The joint effort could lead to the development of "pocketable" devices that reach a new audience beyond netbook and mobile Internet device (MID) users, the companies said. The companies said they wanted to merge the computing and mobile worlds in pocketable devices but otherwise were vague on product details.

Several industry analysts were disappointed at the lack of product details in the announcement and speculated that the device could be a smartphone, an MID, a netbook, or an e-book reader. It's too early to predict, as designs of mobile devices consistently change, they said.

One analyst doubts the alliance will result in a winning product. The companies have worked together for close to a decade on multiple technologies that included mobile devices and mobile broadband technologies such as WiMAX, but nothing spectacular has come of it, said Jim McGregor, chief technology strategist with In-Stat. The partnership is "vaporware" until they detail the products surrounding it, he said.

Intel is already covering a range of mobile devices -- including netbooks, MIDs and smartphones -- with its current and future chips, and it's hard to envision a radically different mobile device, McGregor said. However, the partnership could be a sign that Nokia is looking to move beyond handsets into netbooks, a product category that is popular and gaining momentum, McGregor said.

Even if no specific products come out of it, the collaboration could be mutually beneficial as both companies try to expand their presence in key markets, analysts said. Intel, the world's top chip maker, is trying to catch up with competitor Arm in the mobile-phone space. Nokia, the world's biggest mobile-phone vendor, is looking to expand its product offerings beyond handsets, analysts said.

Intel has a road map of chips that could go into many devices, and the alliance gives Nokia a broader capability to build Internet-centric devices, said Leslie Fiering, a vice president covering mobile computing at Gartner. Nokia has been strong in the handset space and could be looking at mobile devices in different form factors, which could include netbooks, Fiering said.

Sign up for ITworld's Daily newsletter
Follow ITworld on Twitter @IT_world

• Email
• Print
• Share
  • Slashdot
  • Digg
  • Stumble
  • Reddit
  • Newsvine