Intel Buying iPhone Chipmaker Infineon's Wireless Unit

[Michael Essany]

Intel apparently means business when it comes to wanting to step up its game in the mobile realm. Just how serious are the folks at Intel? Serious enough to plunk down $1.4 billion to purchase the entire wireless division of Infineon, a well-known and far from minor component supplier for the iPhone. According to published reports on the deal announced Monday, the purchase heavily pertains to integral mobile and wireless technologies like Wi-Fi, 3G, WiMAX and LTE.

As observed by our friends at MarketWatch, one of the primary reasons that Intel is eager to diversify beyond its core business of providing computer chips is that "this market is softening." On Friday, for example, this "softening" was especially apparent, as Intel was forced to slash its annual sales forecast, "citing a weaker-than-expected PC market."

While Intel's explicit plans are not yet known, the general overture the company is making toward the wireless sector could ultimately yield some interesting results within the mobile space. And it sounds as though this is precisely what Intel Chief Executive Paul Otellini has in mind for his company's newest acquisition. "As more devices compute and connect to the Internet, we are committed to positioning Intel to take advantage of the growth potential in every computing segment, from laptops to handhelds and beyond," Otellini said.

Marketwatch

[CrestonzFin3zT]

nice...i wonder what this will change?? hmm...

[andygev35]

Core i5 in the iPhone 5 must be just around the corner then...

[reanimationxp]

Core i5 in the iPhone 5 must be just around the corner then...

Don't count on it.. intel has always sucked at mobile chipsets IMO. This is intel trying to become a player in a game that isn't theirs.

[saunupe1911]

Core i5 in the iPhone 5 must be just around the corner then...

That would be awesome, but Intel biggest problem in the mobile computing realm has been heat and efficiency. I'm running a mobile core i7 on my E6510 and it gets hot as hell

[havoc0351]

Core i5 in the iPhone 5 must be just around the corner then...

That would be great to see!

[andygev35]

Don't count on it.. intel has always sucked at mobile chipsets IMO. This is intel trying to become a player in a game that isn't theirs.

I agree, but it sure has a nice ring to it, no?

[iLoveWindows&iPhone]

Just cause intel bought this company doesn't mean they r going to start putting their pc
Chips in phones......that makes no since at all. If that were the case they would not have needed to buy this company.

[alyshehata]

FAIL... i hate intel :P their processors aren't nice, graphic cards are SH*T and their wifi cards....Awful...

[Bluemoldycheeze88]

i5 or i7 in the iphone sounds nice but they do have an issue with their heat issue. I wonder if their recent purchase of McAfee will take any affect into this.

[Cowboy]

Very cool can't wait to see what the future not just for iPhones but apple ingeneral has to offer.

[awesomeSlayer]

It must be for the money. Hmm...

Core i7 on iPhone would be nice, but first, they need to resolve their heating issues.

[macsoldier]

I wouldnt think they would buy a company like that for that much if they didnt know anything about the market they are getting into.

[Throne030]

They are not dumbasses to buy an whole company without any sort of thinking.

[ecd5000]

That would be awesome, but Intel biggest problem in the mobile computing realm has been heat and efficiency. I'm running a mobile core i7 on my E6510 and it gets hot as hell

great more exploding iphones

[CaptainChaos]

There is no way the i5 or i7 will ever be in a phone. The i7 is a quad duo core chip. The heat would be fatal alone not to mention there isn't a mobile battery that could power it. This is a bold move during a huge recession(which should be called a depression), but if they get lucky they can at least add mobile phone processing to their huge portfolio.

[Cer0]

They are buying left and right here I guess. Wonder what is in there roadmap for all this.