The Most Important Company in Wireless

Let me cut to the chase here. About seven or eight years ago, I was asked who the most important company in wireless was. I took this to mean which company would be most influential over the future of mobility. The answer then was easy: Intel. And it's the same answer today.

Does Intel build the best radios? Well, no; Centrino is good but not great, and they're not a player in WWANs beyond WiMAX, which I'll return to next time. But the radio isn't the most important part of a wireless solution - the platform is. And that's what Intel does; they define the platform. Intel has played a key role in the PC since its initial definition and creation, with some arguing that their influence, like Microsoft's, has been in fact a little bit too much, to the overall detriment of the industry. And I know many continue to be amazed that such a strange processor architecture could rise to the top of the heap.

But rise it did, dominating both desktops and notebooks. Even Apple went with Intel, the final affirmation that Intel is doing something right. And the latest incarnation of Intel's processors, the Atom family, is positively amazing - and, despite some worthy competition, will dominate mobile computing platforms for some time to come.

Why is Atom so important? Well, it of course can run that awful Microsoft code, assuring broad adoption pull from the installed base. But, more importantly, the fundamental showstopper in mobility is battery life, and Atom simply sips electrons - we're talking 2.5 Watts at 1.6 GHz. This is the result of amazing semiconductor process technology combined with the talents of a very skillful and creative group of engineers, and the result, even in version 1.0, sets the bar very, very high. Sure, there's competition, most notably from Nvidia's Tegra line and mobility specialist Via Technologies. Competition is good, but Intel is at present in the lead and I expect they will remain such for some time to come.

The first product based on Atom that I've seen is the MSI Wind Mobile Internet Device (MID). I'm going to start using that term even though I like "Web Tablets" better, and even though the core of these products is a full-blown PC that can run XP (but not Vista - it will be interesting to watch how MS wiggles out of that mess) but more importantly LINUX. As I've written, I am quite happy with my Asus Eee, but I think the Wind is next on my list as soon as it becomes available.

I had a conversation this week with an editor and reporter that I've known for a long time, that began with his assertion that he didn't think the MID market would amount to very much. I think the combination of low cost, small form factor, high functionality, and (with Atom) amazing battery life will make these products the solution of choice for anyone who's fundamentally mobile. A handset has the wrong combination of user interface components for regular use. The MID, especially networked to the handset, is ideal. As applications become more network- and Web-centric, traditional notebooks will simply be recognized as too big, too heavy, and, most importantly, too expensive in terms of both CapEx and especially OpEx to remain standard issue in most enterprises. MIDs will therefore become the platform of choice.

Intel is to be congratulated on the announcement of the Atom, even if it was intentionally a poorly-kept secret. And Intel remains the most important company in mobile and wireless thanks to innovations like this. I should point out here, however, that I'm always likely to pick a semiconductor firm as being the most important; everything else we do derives from the basic functionality enabled in hardware. The runner up? Qualcomm. More on them next time as well.