Intel is well known for its more powerful yet cooler running 22 nanometers “Core” processor chips that run PCs and servers. Intel dominates the PC and server chips market. However, PC sales are declining in the face of rapidly growing smartphones and tablets. Until the recent past, Intel did not attempted to enter into the rapidly growing mobile segment of the market and allowed its partnering ARM licensees to deal with it. Faced with dwindling PC sales Intel is now forced to compete in the mobile market segment in order to survive.
Now Intel is gearing up its “Atom” chips technology. Atom chips were first introduced in 2008 during the Intel Developer Forum in Shanghai, China. The 22 nanometer Atom chips (code named Silvermont) are in production and getting ready to be shipped before the holidays. Known as Bay Trail these chips will be available in early September 2013. But Intel is putting more attention to a much faster, ultra-low-voltage 14 nanometer Atom chip (code named Airmont) that can revolutionize the mobile chip market. The 14 nanometer Atom chips carry a power advantage over other similar chips using only 15 watts or less of electricity.