Apple is slowly slowly building up their huge required supply of 64 bit A9 quad core Apple 64 Bit Chipsets, to go into a new wave of Apple big tablets and small laptops when they splash them all out just in time for Christmas, 2015.   Production is VERY SLOW right now as the 14nm lithography process isn't fully refined yet.

Apple is using up 2 vendors to do this 64 bit 14nm buildup, TSMC and Samsung, both of whom are dedicating one full line apiece under contract until the massive Apple build up is completely done.   And yes, it will take about a full year to do that build up as 14nm is very slow right now.

TSMC is having trouble with their 14nm though, and has talked Apple into an intermediate grade of chip at 20nm (to be called the A8) in order to make the massive Christmas 2014's shipments which are DUE NOW !!!   This Apple Christmas contractually belongs to TSMC, so you will get a 20mn A8 instead of an A9 this year.

Qualcomm is shipping their "lesser" 28nm A53 64 bit LITTLE quad core design on their new 64 bit chipset family in real phones and tablets as we speak -- with absolutely no fuss or noise coming from Qualcomm at all in doing so.  

(Qualcomm was smart to stick with 28nm at this point in time, to get some real experience using the A53/57 core schedulers, drivers and gpu sharing tricks while integrating all of that into the rest of the Qualcomm fully integrated on core processes)

Samsung has the first production lots of their new 20nm 64 bit HexaCore chipsets built, using 4 each A53 for the littles and two whopping strong A57s as the heavy hitters, along with the very best of the new Mali 624 graphics core family.   These chipsets are being built into new Samsung phones as we speak.  

Samsung's first 14nm line is working and is producing A9's for Apple, just very slowly.

ARM and Linaro are actually putting out a full program developers hardware tool set this time around, using a standardized Linaro 64 bit Android build which is a prequel to the Google release --- but this must happen NOW to give game developers, etc. a tool to actually use in their development workups so their optimized 64 bit software will be ready for the big 64 bit ARM explosion.  

By putting out the ARM STANDARDS Hardware Board out early, driven by Linaro STANDARDS Android software with all the hardware/software tricks correctly working, ARM hopes to keep Google straight as well.  

Yes, Google and ARM do share some of the heat for what happened with the old Samsung 5410 Octa, along with Samsung's big load of blame for rushing last generation's "mightiest Samsung 5410  Octa" to market before it was ready just so Samsung could be "first to market" with a big/LITTLE octacore.  

Plus, Samsung hacked up the 5410 hard macro design by throwing in a VR graphics core set which threw the 5410 into a completely nonstandard design category on top of Samsung simply pushing it into the marketplace too too early.

http://liliputing.com/2014/07/arm-introduces-juno-board-64-bit-armv8-developm...

   

Look closely at that development board, this 64 bit ARM standard chipset really can support every sort of memory style, hard drive interface, I/O interface, expansion card slot, video standard, etc. etc. etc. you could ever dream or wish for on a laptop or a desktop device right from the get go.   Yep, 64 bit ARM is also headed for PC space, this is obvious from all the PC style I/O stuff it will support right out of the box.

The HexaCore 64 bit chipset used in this ARM STANDARDS board is the bone stock ARM hexacore A53/A57 hard macro design that Samsung bought, so expect it to be pretty much SAME SAME as the Samsung chipset when the Samsung 64 bit comes out soon.   Two A57s can easily match the real workload capacity of four of the old generation A15 big cores, and the A53 littles are both more powerful and more energy efficient than the old A7s used to be.   Plus all the multi-core processor/GPU compute sharing tricks are all worked out completely now and are kicking on all cylinders on this initial 64 bit release.

Note that this ARM organized COMPLETELY STANDARDIZED, EVERYTHING WORKING rather extensive trial run approach is really really intended to prevent the Octacore bobble that happened at the start of the last generation, where the big/Little core scheduler hardware/software still needed some development work when the first released Samsung 5410 Octacore chipset actually hit the street.

(came out sorta lacking, as it turned out)

Which of course caused the resulting rapid replacement of the 5410 with the improved 5420 and then again by the improved 5422.  Such stupid bullshite will HOPEFULLY not be required by this new 64 bit ARM generation because ARM is now out in front conducting the marching band and is leading that band with the FULLY PUBLISHED, STANDARDIZED EVERYTHING IS WORKING APPROACH.

So, if Samsung's customized, tweeked Android interface and modified/tweeked hard macro based chipset design leave something out or leave something not working right, it is ALL ON SAMSUNG THIS TIME AROUND.  

Well, this may have been partially true last time as well, but nobody could prove it as there was no standards board and no standard software to compare it to.   This time they can.

(pay attention Samsung, it is all on you if you screw up again).

ARM intends to give Intel no similar big whoopsie bobble room to work with at the start of the ARM 64 bit implementation wave, and ARM will still likely be done with their 64 bit first wave before Intel can "buddy build" anything of consequence for phones or tablets that could derail ARM's 64 bit push.

Intel knows this, and is currently focusing all their effort in on being the King of the Chromebooks and Chromeboxes, since their processors currently fit that particular niche very very well at the 22nm that Intel can do.  Intel knows they have nothing at all still for phones, or nothing much compellingly good for the next generation of tablet chipsets either.

Note that this ARM 64 bit wave of new stuff includes the brand new 14nm production lines that are slowly cranking up and running (still somewhat sluggishly though) at TSMC, Global Foundaries and at Samsung.  

Intel is still vapor talking their grandiose 14nm plans, but has nothing in production at this time.

ARM is in real production now at 14nm.

Yup, the new ARM 14nm lines are out there, and they are running as we speak.   They will pick up more speed as the new process kinks all get worked out.   Thank you Apple, for paying for all these finishing touches on the 14nm lithography processes (right kind of you, it really is) ....

As Sherlock Holmes would say,  "Watson, get your pistol -- the game is afoot !!!"


====================


The ARM 64 bit hardware is here, the Linaro STANDARD 64 bit Android software is here -- we are now looking for the next full windowing, multi-user general purpose 64 bit ARM OS to appear shortly.

Now is the time for Microsoft to stage that comeback, if ever they can do so.

Google, where are you as your big party begins to commence?   What exactly is Android L and how does it play against the new 64 bit wave of ARM chipsets that can very obviously run a laptop or a desktop?

Intel is now betting it is all going to be Chrome going out into the future and they are trying their best to "own" the Chrome world going forward.  

Android L should scare MS to death, as should that new ARM standards board that screams "laptop/PC" with all them card slots and old PC I/O types that it supports natively.

MS is still mostly trapped in x86 land and if Android L is a real hit, then that trap will continue to hold them paralyzed.

http://www.extremetech.com/computing/181136-samsung-and-globalfoundries-buddy...



This article is worth a read, Samsung and Global Foundary are doing a 14nm development partnership deal that can lead to shared production at their four 14nm manufacturing sites and IBM has dropped out of the group now and is now talking about selling Global all their old silicone manufacturing sites as IBM is now getting out of the semiconductor business completely.  

Why the buddy system and the IBM quitting, you ask?   14nm is very hard to do and very very expensive new equipment-wise.

Apple is buying up 100% of all the spare 14nm capacity right now, but when their A9 quad core hits the street in 2015 then suddenly there will be spare capacity at 14nm to make some of everybody else's new 64 bit designs.  

14nm will be much more expensive than 28nm was to run, so expect the savvy tablet & phone makers to stick with 28nm for just as long as they can.  14nm will be top end phones and tablets only through 2015 I suspect, until folks just plain need the extra power that comes with 14nm and the new 64 bit processor designs.

Intel has an issue -- as #7 back in the pack low ranked johnny-come-lately they will WAIT THEIR TURN to get any 14nm production time at Global, TSMC or at Samsung.   As a direct competitor to the ARM foundries they can expect no preferential treatment whatsoever from any of the ARM foundry crew.

Unless Intel can get their burned up and now hopefully repaired 14nm process line fixed up and up and running again Intel is just plain shite out of luck until next year .....   BTW scuttlebutt now is that Intel's 14nm line was a very early version of 14nm, using 14nm tech that has since been abandoned as an "unworkable" low yielding 14nm methodology.

However, Intel has lots of money -- they can do like MS and try try try try again.

http://liliputing.com/2014/07/report-mediatek-mt6795-chip-64-bit-8-core-power...



Me Too !!!   Me Too !!!   says Mediatek.

Mediatek is honest, however, in they are putting out a 64 bit chipset at the current and most cost efficient 28nm lithography level.  

Note also, that ARM is allowing this, whereas before a 64 bit chipset had to come out at 20nm or better to be ARM approved.

ARM too must bow to the intransigence of Moore's Law, which has hit up against the harsh realities of FinFET and cannot double this year.

Ruh-ro,  Shaggy !!!    

Them 'orrible 'orrible Antutu ingrates have done gone and done did the Antutu 4.0 test and the new Antutu 5.0 test on the same Intel phone chipset that was pushed out in that infamous Lenovo unit that was involved in the cheating fiasco last year ......  

(yup, the same Intel chipset/motherboard  that did all the simply marvelous cheat'n on the 3.3 Antutu testing)



Look up at the Antutu 4.0 Ranking of 2014 mobile chipsets up a post above and realize WHY the Intel stuff ain't showing up high in the top Antutu TOP 20 -- it ain't that good enough but to just about to take tail end charlie at roughly position 18 out of 20.  

Another reason is it was a 2013 chipset, so it doesn't belong in a 2014 ranking.   It could be there, there are some older 2013 chipsets in the ranking that were officially submitted by their companies (who are still making and currently selling these older chipsets) but Intel won't officially submit their stuff (and Antutu isn't happy with Intel or HTC as both were caught as blatant test cheaters in the past year).

Assuming the whole processor listing doesn't shift around some when going to the Antutu 5.0 test which correctly assigns relatively more weight to the graphics systems as in mobile the graphics systems speed is relatively more important than the CPU speed when browsing or gaming, etc.   "Burst mode" gets a more through testing in Antutu 5.0 as well.

Intel mobile graphics well and truly suck compared to the performance of the more modern 2014 graphics sets ....   and this is likely why Intel is wanting Rockchip to kludge in the ARM Mali graphics off the A-17 when they do the Sophia mix and match.





Also mentioned in the information I read for this post was a breakdown of the AMD/Intel one billion, four hundred million dollar antitrust settlement and just how much of it was for Intel's ongoing cheating on PC benchmark tests because they managed to control the software used internal to the testing.

Impression left was that Intel habitually cheats on benchmarks (long term habit there) and that they use the press and vaporware to bludgeon their competitors continuously with stuff they never really intend to build or do, simply so the competitor has to waste some time and energy responding to all these Intel mis-directions.

I can see these exact same sorts of things going on today with Rockchip and Sophia and with all the rest of what has happened in mobile in the last year.

Intel banks their stock price on keeping their image looking competitive whether their reality is or not.  

Right now all Intel has for you is plans, and more plans, and some longer term more vaporous plans than those if need be.

"Investor Relations" and advanced spin doctoring must be a Presidential level job at Intel .....



When folks go to picking their top 20 list of tablets, only one Wintel tablet seems to make everyone's list at around spot #18 or so -- and that is the uber expensive $900+ Microsoft Surface Pro 3 which has two sizes that seem to switch off as being on the various lists.

Some list it as a Business/Productivity Tablet and it always gets listed with its mating (but costs a lot extra) keyboard.

I find it interesting that the only tablet product that MS can get listed in any body's top 20 uses full laptop chipsets as in (you pick it) the Intel Core i3, i5, or i7.   NONE of these puppies are Intel mobile chipsets at all ..... nor do they use a MS mobile OS -- they use the full bore version of Windows 8.1 Pro software.    

Full laptops with separable keyboards, in other words.

http://liliputing.com/2014/07/intel-launches-3-new-bay-trail-tablet-chips.html



"CPU-World uncovered some details about the new chips. The Intel Atom Z3736F is a lot like the Atom Z3735F, but it has higher burst speeds. The new chip is a 1.33 GHz quad-core processor with Turbo speeds up to 2.16 GHz. It also has a base graphics speed of 313 MHz, which is a tad higher than the 311 MHz graphics you get with the Z3735F.

The Atom Z3736G features similar specs, but this is an upgraded version of the Atom Z3735G. It’s not entirely clear if there are any real differences between the F and G series chips though.

The most powerful new chip is the Atom Z3785, a quad-core 1.49 GHz processor with burst speeds up to 2.41 GHz, 313 MHz graphics and top graphics speeds of up to 833 MHz. This new processor is the second-most powerful Intel Atom Bay Trail-T processor available, coming behind only the Atom Z3795."


    This last one will place in the top 20 if it doesn't fry itself doing it .....


So, Intel has responded to the heat they are catching by having EFFECTIVELY no new chipsets at all in the top 20 mobile chip race at this time.  They have done this by creating 3 new part numbers for essentially the same old chipsets that are getting really sorta old now.

What has changed is the nanny chip programmed burst mode, raising the burst mode levels up into to high heat, low battery life type levels ....

(they just tweeked the energy nanny chipset, in other words)

Burst mode is allowable, if the chipset normally uses this mode to handle high demand loads and if the burst mode is SUSTAINABLE without overheating and killing the chipset.

Antutu 5.0 tests burst mode rigor by looping the high speed test 100 times, if somebody over-bursts their chipset seeking higher numbers their thermal cut outs kick in and the remainder of the 100 loop test goes very slowly, costing them total test time.

Or their chip fries .... either way cheating becomes more difficult.

This wasn't done just only for Intel, HTC teased their chipset to recognize when Antutu testing was going on and to turn off all the thermal protection and go Balls to the Walls, Boys !!! on full overheat full max burst mode continuously during all of the rest of what was then a fairly short term test procedure.  

Loop it 100 times and an HTC type balls to the walls cheat would fry the silicone.   An Intel chipset would be smart enough to sense the overheating and it would kick back down to a speed that wouldn't kill the chipset.   But then the effectiveness of the cheat would then be mostly nullified.  

Provided of course, that the Intel chipset actually does go through all the 100 test loops ......

    ..... we shall see, won't we?

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2453800/dell-halts-chromebook-online-sales-cit...

Microsoft has just declared victory over the Chromebook because they finally got one (1) price supported "freebee Windows 8.1" machine out on the market that got somewhat CLOSE to competing on price with some of the more expensive Chromebooks out there.

"A day late and a dollar short" seems to come to mind when I think about MS's brag that the Chromebook is now dead.

Dell sells an expensive $300 Chromebook to the Education Market and today Dell did something Dell has NEVER has done before.   Dell ran out of units (maxed out their build capacity) and had to stop internet sales (individuals buy single units on line) on their Chromebook while desperately trying to fill the current institutional orders from their direct sales force, which is placing more Education orders for the fall than Dell can currently build in time for school to start this fall.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2453800/dell-halts-chromebook-online-sales-cit...

http://www.slashgear.com/dells-chromebook-is-so-popular-it-stopped-selling-th...



Microsoft should now be considering if they did the right thing in killing off XP so abruptly.   MS had the cold blooded intention to start up a wave of replacement machines, but apparently MS's thinking ran under the assumption (erroneous) that folks would buy their Win 8.1 machines and not remember the screwing that MS had just dealt them.

Dell is suggesting the reality is quite different.

Instead of being willing to pay $50 more for a Windows 8.1 machine, folks seem to be willing to pay $50 more to get a Dell Chromebook .....

Intel’s mobile division actually earned 83 percent less revenue in Q2, 2014 than a year earlier.


http://liliputing.com/2014/07/lilbits-7-15-2014-intel-chases-the-tablet-marke...


Microsoft has now officially offered up their full Win8.1 version FOR FREE to anyone making a tablet with an Intel processor.

We do not know what this is costing Microsoft (no revenue must affect things somewhere) but we do know the price supports are really costing Intel a mint.

================

Ask and ye shall recieve -- http://recode.net/2014/07/15/intel-still-struggling-in-mobile-as-phone-busine...  gives us the required fiscal information in a nice graphical format.



Blue is operating revenue (what $$$ you brought in) and most of that positive revenue flow comes mostly from the old Intel dumb cell phone modems that they are still selling to the dumb phone market.   Intel has no smart phone LTE modem at all at this time (but has big plans to make one, real soon).

Brown is what you spent to generate the blue (and Intel spent a lot of brown to generate a tiny bit of blue, especially since the mild positive flow comes from an old, declining mobile business that still makes a profit).

It is safe to say that Intel is selling their tablet chipsets at such a low "price supported" level that they effectively lose over 100% on each chipset that they sell right now.   Intel is literally having to bribe its way into the mobile business space, having no compelling product that would sell at all on its own merits otherwise.

Is this legal?   Technically not, but right now all the Chinese device makers are lining up with their hands out to get their free Intel money.   And so far no Chinese chip producing company has been really hurt by this extreme loss leader pricing because Intel has only moved like 10,000 chips in total so far this year, but that will change soon enough if Intel actually gets successful at this trick and then the Chinese government will then have to step in and shut Intel's loss leader game down.

(Rockchip, the smallest, would have been the first to complain, but now Rockchip is in Intel's hip pocket and won't squeak at all about anything)


=======================


Intel's fiscal reports are clear enough for folks to follow, MS however is not so open or clear in reporting to their stock holders.

However, not having any income from your bread and butter OS system because you are giving it away has got to have some strong negative fiscal effects.

Here are some outward signs of the fiscal pain.   This is both the US groups and Nokia.  First words are that Nokia is getting slam-cut to the bone, unless you work on a Microsoft phone project you are likely gone at Nokia.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/17/us-microsoft-employment-idUSKBN0FM1...


=======================


What does all this mean for you, the buyer?   During this period you will be able to buy more mobile device for less money.   ARM chipsets are being forced to get better, but not raise prices any at all in doing so.

The entire mobile industry is getting caught in the vice of 14nm FinFET coming on so slowly and being so expensive to run -- companies are having to innovate with existing technology rather than run off to a new more effective tech to fix all their problems.

Clever chip design and better on chip integration will carry the day, so look to see Qualcomm and Samsung get cleverer and better at what they do well already on the top end, and look for Mediatek and Allwinner to get even tighter and better on the bottom end as well.

Look to see 28nm stay around a while, and look to see the new wave of full 64 bit designs running on 28nm to continue to grow until all chipsets being made can take a 64 bit instruction set at a lithography level that they can afford to be run upon.  

And right now that is a range from 20-28nm.

Next puzzlement question --- if you and Intel are doing so poorly in mobile why do you keep banging away at it?


Both of you released quarterly figures which would simply read "get out of mobile now" even if read by a 10th grader.   You would certainly actually make more money for your stock holders without being in mobile at all.

Your stock holders are Americans --- yet the pair of you can't supply a mobile product that America wants.

How long before your American stock holders figure out you are taking your stockholders (them) for a bit of a ride while chasing your egos ???

   

....lastly, why does MS Win 8.1 sell better in South America and Africa than it does here in the USA?    

Could it be they simply don't know any better and we do ????  

Or is it that Windows 8.1 really is an upgrade  --  to Firefox's mobile OS which currently owns those particular areas ??