Intel's 3D transistor fuels tablet fight with ARM

Intel's new 3D transistor innovation should position the chip maker to grab hold of a piece of the burgeoning tablet market that it's been missing out on.

On Wednesday, Intel announced it has made a major leap in advancing chip research: 3D transistors. The new innovation, expected to make PCs, smartphones and tabletsfaster and more power-efficient, are slated to make their first appearance when Intel moves to 22-nanometer chips at once year.

But the advancement as well means that Intel may now have a shot at working its way into the lucrative tablet and smartphone markets, which has eluded Intel and been a treasure trove for rival ARM's processors.

With ARM chips used in most tablets and smartphones today, the company has become an increasingly formidable competitor to Intel, at heart blocking the chip giant from getting a solid foot hold in the new market.

The market for mobile devices

"The market for mobile devices, like tablets and smart phones, has exploded over the past few years and Intel needs to be part of the solution on these devices," said Dan Olds, an analyst with The Gabriel Consulting Group. "The 3D transistor is a big leap forward for Intel and could be a game-changer for mobile devices... When this research is applied to processors in the Atom range, it's going to make them much more competitive with ARM processors."

One IDC analyst said there was a direct connection between Apple's release of the iPad 2 and the drop in interest in traditional PCs. And analysts from various firms have been noting for months now that tablets have been cannibalizing the PC market.

Rob Enderle, an analyst with the Enderle Group, said Intel is working hard to correct this bad footing. "Unfortunately, Intel has been on the wrong side of this one and they are aggressively working to correct that," he said, adding that the new 3D transistor research alone won't likely fix Intel's whole problem.

The tablet/smartphone markets

He said Intel desperately needs some very large design wins to get moving in the tablet/smartphone markets. And this 3D chip win is a strong one to start off with.

"Intel has virtually nothing compelling in either the tablet or smartphone space in terms of a shipping product," he added. "[The new research] is core, no pun intended. This is usually how they advance. However Intel needs to address research and marketing requirements and, so far, they are only effective on research."

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Sharon Gaudin covers the Internet and Web 2.0, emerging technologies, and desktop and laptop chips for Computerworld. Follow Sharon on Twitter at @sgaudin or subscribe to Sharon's RSS feed. Her e-mail address is sgaudin@computerworld.com.