Intel plunks down billions to expand in mobile market
Intel has bought its way into the tablet market, but success seems years away in smartphones, despite billions of dollars spent.
The allure of mobile devices has led Intel to take some uncharacteristic moves that defy the company's proud tradition of designing and manufacturing chips in-house. Intel has partnered with Chinese companies to build some smartphone and tablet chips, and is relying on third parties to manufacture those chips.
Intel bets the partnerships will accelerate its business in China, where smartphone shipments are booming. But the company wants to regain complete control over manufacturing, and on Thursday said it was investing $1.6 billion over 15 years in a China plant for mobile chip development and manufacturing.
