Intel Makes Play For LTE Modem Market With XMM 7260, Now Commercially Available

[Guest]

Intel announced it received certification for its new XMM 7262 LTE modem on China Mobile and that Samsung's upcoming Galaxy Alpha device will be using its XMM 7260 LTE-Advanced modem.

Intel Makes Play For LTE Modem Market With XMM 7260, Now Commercially Available : Read more

 

[InvalidError]

If Intel got their chip certified by a Chinese carrier, does that imply Intel plans to price them down to China-friendly prices? That sounds very un-Intel-like.

Intel's best bet if they want to increase their market share at relatively low cost would probably be to license their radio as a hard-macro so SoC designers can integrate it in their chips.

 

[amk-aka-Phantom]

The modem will soon ship inside the new Samsung Galaxy Alpha smartphone.

Since Galaxy Alpha is already available for purchase in some markets, does this mean that the new Intel modem is already being used in them or will it only show up in a later revision of the phone?

 

[rhorjus]

Ummm... Pretty sure Qualcomm still has the Gobi discrete modem. And its on the bleeding edge of modem technology. So Intel has many battles to win still.

 

[InvalidError]

Since Galaxy Alpha is already available for purchase in some markets, does this mean that the new Intel modem is already being used in them or will it only show up in a later revision of the phone?

Commercial availability simply means that now any company who wants it can start ordering. It is not unusual for the launches of the first device integrating another company's new device(s) to coincide within a few days. This is what they call "launch vehicles" - if you want to convince other companies to buy your chips, you make sure there is at least one practical demonstration of what you want it to get used for and what it can do at launch.

This would not be very different from how stores usually have Intel's newest CPUs in stock for launch-day... the CPUs available on launch-day often have date codes many months older than launch since Intel had to start producing chips months ahead of time for motherboard manufacturers to have a chance to test their boards against launch devices before launch.

Imagine how much fun Intel's CPU launches would be if no motherboard manufacturer or system integrator had seen the CPU before launch-day...

 

[jasonelmore]

Gobi is junk and is expensive. It has very few LTE bands.