Bring it on, Atom!
The mighty processor packs a punch, accounting for $500 million in revenue for 2008.
Intel launched the Intel® Atom™ processor approximately one year ago at the Intel Developer’s Forum (IDF) in Shanghai, and over the past year, it has gained significant momentum with customers and in the industry. Just one year after its original introduction 1,200 Intel Atom-based designs currently span across netbooks, mobile Internet devices (MIDs), consumer electronics (CE), and embedded devices. In addition, the Atom processor has received numerous awards for delivering high performance while dramatically reducing power. And, the best is yet to come.
Netbooks on fire
In just three full quarters since netbooks launched at Computex in June 2008, Intel has secured over 75 netbook design wins, and volumes have exceeded the first full year of Intel® Centrino® Mobile Technology. This aggressive ramp is unprecedented in Intel’s history. In addition, the Atom processor contributed to $500 million in revenue for 2008, and according to Gartner**(state source at bottom of article), Intel exited the year with 95 percent market segment share in the netbook segment, demonstrating our leadership in this new and exciting category.
Ultra mobility goes mainstream
With approximately 300 million connected mobile devices being shipped today, we have much work to do to reach our goal of 1 billion connected mobile devices by 2015, but we’re well on our way.
Mobile Internet devices based on the Atom processor began shipping in August 2008, representing a new category of small, truly mobile devices that give customers an amazing Internet experience—ability to communicate with others, enjoy their favorite entertainment, and access information on-the-go.
According to Anand Chandrasekher, Intel senior vice president and general manager of the Ultra Mobility Group, “We’ve continued to innovate to make the first-generation Atom better.” Anand delivered a keynote at IDF Beijing where he introduced two new Z Series Intel® Atom™ processor SKUs (model numbers Z550 and Z515) that will complement the existing five SKUs for the MID segment and extend performance to 2GHz. “We have over 100 Atom designs in the MID and netbook category alone. The beautiful thing is those designs keep increasing.”
While new MID designs and capabilities are hitting the market with the “Menlow”-based Atom processor, development on the next-generation Atom processor, code-named “Moorestown,” isn’t slowing down. On point to deliver a greater than 10x idle power consumption decrease, Moorestown will enable our next-generation Atom-based MIDs to appeal to even more customers by delivering a solid PC-like Internet experience while also supporting cellular voice capabilities, among other features.
Growth through Embedded
One year after the Atom embedded platform was introduced embedded market segment customers have contributed over 1,000 design engagements. And, greater than two-thirds of these designs are with new customers for Intel.
Ton Steenman, vice president of the Digital Enterprise Group and general manager of the Low-Power Embedded products Group, says, “It’s all about growth. We’re growing into new market segments and embedded applications, adding new Intel customers, and adding connectivity and intelligence to embedded devices.”
On March 2, 2009, we announced the Intel® Atom™ processor Z5xx series including industrial-temperature options, and package-size choices better suited for in-car infotainment devices, media phones, smart grid technologies, and other industrial-strength applications.
With its tiny size and low-power attributes, the Atom processor has enabled smaller and thinner form factors, with more innovative applications than ever before.
Atom connects sailors with loved ones
Embedded chip could help more than one million seafarers worldwide Captain Herbert Spangenberg was aboard his 75,000 ton container ship in the Pacific Ocean when his daughter—on the other side of the world, in Germany—gave birth to Captain Spangenberg’s first grandson. Using the Bangkok Express’ on-ship satellite phone, Captain Spangenberg was able to ring his daughter and congratulate her—but at a wallet-draining cost of $27 for just 12 minutes.
A just-announced Intel® Atom™ processor based communication system for commercial vessels promises to significantly cut the costs—and increase the ease—with which sailors worldwide can communicate with their loved ones.
VoIP, email, Internet arrive on ship
Sailors today live in isolation when they are at sea. Communication with their families and friends is possible only in a very limited way and at a high cost. Traditional ways of staying in touch—quick emails, phone calls, photo sharing, or other Internet services—are not readily available to sailors at sea and their many millions of additional loved ones on shore. And voice calls by satellite phone are prohibitively expensive. Captain Spangenberg, for example, points out that his crewmen from places like Myanmar and Lithuania simply cannot afford the service. “They very seldom call home,” he says, noting that just a few conversations with a spouse or girlfriend would leave a painful dent in a sailor’s monthly pay.
New Atom embedded application unveiled at CeBIT
Enter the Intel Atom processor in a new embedded application that was announced recently at the CeBIT trade show in Hannover, Germany. The device with an Intel Atom embedded processor which provides Internet and voice communications to sailors on board the ship.
It’s part of a new “Crew Welfare Initiative” that has support from Intel, Google, the umc.global network, the Hamburg Port Authority, and others.
A key technological piece of the Crew Welfare Initiative is an “optimization server” that is mounted on the outside of the ship. The server needs to withstand extreme cold temperatures as well as heat, depending on ship’s location and weather.
The solution demonstrated at CeBIT features the Intel® Atom™ processor Z5xx series in a ruggedized server. More applications—such as those for vehicles—will be introduced shortly.
