They were once so close they were known as Wintel. But times are a-changing, warns HP CEO.HP boss, Meg Whitman, gave an interesting insight into the tech industry, yesterday, declaring Intel and Microsoft, a partnership formerly known as Wintel, as “outright competitors.”
And she’s right. At first glance, Intel and Microsoft provide chip components and Windows software makes up a PC, tablet and now smartphones.
But times are-a-changing, says Whitman, a tech industry veteran, noting the duo are now starting to compete against each other, as each looks to maintain relevance in a mobile centric world – and adopt alternative platforms to meet this evolving industry.
“Wintel devices are being challenged by ARM-based devices,” she told Wall Street investors yesterday.
“We are seeing profound changes in the competitive landscape. Current partners like Intel and Microsoft are turning from partners into outright competitors.”
Microsoft’s first Surface RT, was powered by an ARM chip – Intel’s arch rival – while the new Surface 2 runs NVIDIA Tegra 4, although Surface Pro 2 sticks with Intel Core i5.
Intel, for its part, has partnered up with a number of Android players such as Samsung on hardware including the Galaxy Note 3, which compete with Microsoft Surface.
