This time it’s not just a transition in the field of laptops, but a potential blow to Intel’s best business
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After Apple announced that it’s moving from x386 – based Intel processors to homemade ARM processors, and even released the first computers with the M1 processor, which turned out to be quite successful, it really does not seem to be the last. According to reports, Microsoft is already working on developing its own standalone processor, and this time it is very problematic news for Intel, because beyond the abandonment of the historic alliance (remember the days of Wintel?) It is no longer just about laptop processors.
Intel’s soft underbelly – the data center business
According to a Bloomberg report, Microsoft is working on a processor in the ARM architecture that will power its Surface computers. In addition, the company plans to use its new processors primarily in its Data-Centers, which are the most prestigious businesses for most hardware manufacturers. The main goal of the move is to reduce Microsoft’s reliance on Intel’s processor business, which has struggled in recent years to keep pace with competitors.
“Because silicon is a major tier in technology, we continue to invest in our capabilities in the design, manufacturing and tool development areas, while cultivating and strengthening our partnerships with a wide range of chipmakers,” said a Microsoft spokesman. Both Microsoft and ARM declined to confirm the news. Among other things, Microsoft has succeeded in recruiting senior engineers from Intel, AMD, Qualcomm and NVIDIA in recent years.
We’ve already seen how a synergy between hardware development and software development can lead to an impressive jump in performance, like those of the new Macbook Pro that comes with the M1 processor. Recall that Microsoft has previously launched a number of Surface laptops including ARM processors, but made by Qualcomm, which have not been found to be a dizzying success when it comes to sales, hype or even performance.
Intel currently owns about 90% of the server chip market with its Xeon processors, which is the biggest source of profit for it. If Microsoft does indeed begin the transition to homemade chips for any Azure platform, it will be a real blow for Intel, and not just an image problem or a slight drop in sales as in the case of Apple’s transition. As is well known, Azure is the second largest cloud service, and moreover – a public move by Microsoft in favor of self-production of chips will continue to signal to the industry that it is possible to do without the Intel Inside chips.
A good old age
Born with a joystick in hand. He has far too many gadgets and far too little free time to play with them all. An unexplained hammer holder for calibrating device batteries. When he’s not busy writing about technology, he likes to talk about it, and a lot
