Intel: Medfield is the key to tablet processor strategy

According to foreign media reports, Intel spokeswoman Suzy Ramirez said that Intel’s first system chip, code-named “Medfield”, for tablets and smartphones is Intel’s clever control of the tablet market. A key part of the strategy.

The Medfield system chip will be launched in the first half of next year, followed by the introduction of Clover Trail technology in the second half of next year. Medfield or Clover Trail will pave the way for future chips. Intel will launch the 22nm-structured Silvermont chip in 2013 and the 14nm Airmont chip in 2014.

Ramirez said that the two chips will be able to better handle power-sensitive tablets and smart phones and tablet hybrid products.

Medfield will be a 32nm system-on-a-chip processor. This means that Intel will eventually eliminate the lagging 45nm Atom processor. However, Intel did not say anything different about the Medfield or Clover Trail chips. Knowledgeable investors stated that Medfield is a single-core chip and Clover Trail is a dual-core chip.

If so, the Clover Trail chip will be able to run on about the same time as the Windows 8 tablet. Since Intel acquired Infineon’s wireless division, Intel will have 4G/LTE chips by that time.

However, Intel has a small problem. Qualcomm and other competitors are talking about introducing quad-core chips to the market. Qualcomm, Texas Instruments and Nvidia have both launched dual-core chips and plan to introduce quad-core chips for tablets later this year. If competitors persuade the world that quad-core chips are better than dual-core chips, then Intel will be in trouble.