Intel is apparently looking to branch out from traditional chipset manufacturing and into the content management business, the Wall Street Journal reporting that the company has been in preliminary negotiations with several major entertainment companies.
Intel is apparently looking at bundling a package of television channels, similar to how existing cable operators work today, but instead funnelling them through the company’s own proprietary chips.
This will probably mean an Intel set top box which would deliver the content via the internet, similar to what rivals Apple and Google have attempted already. It could also mean an Intel TV, or some connection to mobile devices or other ‘gateway devices’.
WSJ is reporting that Intel executive Erik Huggers, brought in from the BBC last year is leading the negotiations.
Intel had previously provided its chips for the ill-fated Google TV, which saw significant resistance from the entertainment companies who feared the loss of their own distribution mechanisms.
Apple’s long rumoured Apple iTV has also spooked the entertainment industry, which is now wary of the company’s dominance in mobile through its iTunes store. Apple controls the pricing and content delivery of the entertainment companies’ own intellectual property, a power relationship and control problem they swallow as a bitter pill.
The move for Intel, while possibly smart if it pays off a decade from now, smells of a mild panic brewing.
Intel has been put under pressure as its core chip business in the desktop, laptop and netbook arena have seen sales flatten, as consumers move to smartphones and tablets.
It has been attempting to drive interest in a new generation of Macbook Air-esque laptops called ‘Ultrabooks’ – investing $300m of its own money to drive interest amongst laptop makers. It is a gamble that many think will fail in the supposed ‘post-pc’ iPad era.
The last three years have not been kind to the once dominant ‘Wintel’ generation – both Microsoft and Intel have struggled to adapt to this modern mobile computing environment – much of which are built around simple interfaces, low power usage and a focus on product eco-systems, such as music, movies and app development.
Microsoft has struggled with its mobile software, and has gambled on a Nokia partnership to stay afloat. Its Windows 8 is focused on tablets, and expected to also be adapted for smartphones later. It is Microsoft’s first desktop operating system to support ARM chips.
ARM, the Cambridge based chipset maker, has been thoroughly dominant – producing a virtual monopoly on mobile chip production. Intel’s first generation of Atom chips were ineffectual outside of the netbook market, and it recently announced a new range of mobile-focused chips at Mobile World Congress late last month. Although HTC, Motorola and Orange’s phone will use the chips, overall interest has been tepid.
Intel’s attempted cracking of Internet TV is an example of a company looking for a new way forward as their traditional business looks like drying up over the next decade. Whether they can do so when so many industry heavyweights have failed is another matter.
