The cooperation between the two parties can be seen as a response to Qualcomm’s active expansion of the notebook field.
Editor’s note: This article comes from Interface News , author Peng Xin.
On the evening of November 25, Intel and MediaTek jointly announced that they will formally cooperate in 5G notebooks. The two parties will not only develop 5G modem chips for notebook computers, but also decide to cooperate in launching 5G notebook computer solutions. It is expected that Dell, HP’s two major computer manufacturers will adopt and will officially launch related products in early 2021.
Intel states that the first step of the cooperation between the two parties is to define the specifications of the 5G laptop solution. MediaTek will be responsible for the development and production of 5G modems. Intel will also develop and verify the hardware and software integration of the platform, including the system and driver Procedures, etc.
The cooperation between the two parties can be seen as a response to Qualcomm’s active expansion of the notebook field. Earlier at the Taipei Computer Show, laptops using Qualcomm’s 5G baseband have been officially released by Lenovo and are expected to be launched in early 2020, which will be a year earlier than the cooperation between Intel and MediaTek.
In October 2019, Microsoft and Qualcomm also cooperated on the software and hardware level to release the Surface Pro X notebook computer with a customized Qualcomm chip. Earlier in December 2018, Qualcomm also announced a partnership with AMD to jointly develop laptop computers.
This is enough to arouse Intel’s vigilance, especially if Qualcomm is going deep into Intel’s dominant field. At the same time, the competition between the two parties also involves the next growth point of the computer market-5G.
In 2017, Intel and Qualcomm looked at the Always Connected notebook market in the notebook computer field. Unlike the currently mature notebook products, such notebook chips are more integrated, so they have relatively low power consumption and heat generation. Ultra-long battery life and real-time networking are new selling points of such products.
According to Gartner, a market research firm, global PC shipments total 256 million units in 2019, a decrease of 1.5% compared to 2018. Intel and Qualcomm believe that the often connected laptops are close to the consumer’s usage habits. By embedding an embedded eSIM module or inserting a SIM card, as long as it is in an area covered by a wireless signal networkDomain, you can access the Internet without connecting to Wi-Fi, which will create new requirements.
In the field of baseband chips, Intel has withdrawn from this market. At present, there are only five manufacturers, Qualcomm, MediaTek, Samsung, and Huawei and Spreadtrum. The competition is fierce. Prior to this, Intel’s baseband business also did not enter the leading ranks for a long time. In the end, Intel sold the baseband chip unit to Apple for 1 billion yuan in July. Therefore, for the release of 5G-oriented laptops, Intel needs baseband chip vendors such as MediaTek.
For MediaTek, the cooperation with Intel will be an opportunity to enter a new market. At present, MediaTek has already been involved in mobile phones, tablets, smart speakers, TVs and other fields, but has hardly been involved in computer products.
The cooperation between Intel and MediaTek is an improved model of MediaTek’s 5G modem chip M70, integrating Intel’s 5G technology capabilities to better meet the needs of notebook computers. It is worth noting that MediaTek revealed that the 5G modem chip will not be integrated into Intel’s CPU, but will instead be sold as a single chip rather than integrated with the CPU.