This is last year's Chromebook growth compared during 2012 & 2013.   Also please note that MS took a 20.2% dip year on year in 2013 while Chromebooks popped up to 21.1%.  

Then MS quit giving out any breakout data on their sales in 2014 (got too embarrassing, I guess).   Meanwhile Chromebooks DOUBLED in the 2013-2014 span so the prediction chart shown below turned out to be a little bit conservative.

    Note:  Apple gave up the additional machines to make all the math work out right.



Next, look at the projection graphs that say that the other developed countries are going to have the same sort of Chromebook explosion over the next few years, further draining MS's high profit areas.



All of this growth will come from MS's current high profit market areas (the areas that they are using to subsidize all that contra revenue stuff they are doing in cell phones and Chrome Killers, etc. etc.)



    What is MS going to do to fund all their loss leader stuff once they have lost the high profit leadership position that makes the rest of their loss leader give-away stuff even possible ???

Right now MS is just now realizing that every Chrome Killer they sell takes one of their own higher profit units out of play that they would have sold otherwise.

MS is paying "contra revenue" $$$ out the butt to not sell a more profitable laptop unit since the only market share Chrome Killers are really taking is MS very own higher profit margin laptop market share .....



Apple is having to make up some less expensive laptops to regain some of their own market share that they have lost inside the last year.  

(see Apple start to use their own chipsets in lower cost laptops starting next year as a very important cost savings step compared to using Intel's stuff).

This is in the nature of a prediction type question.

Intel keeps you locked in to their processor types by tying you totally into the MS Windows system and CISC processing, etc. etc. etc.

The relentless march of computing down into Chrome Space has forced MS to start supporting ARM chipsets as a "native windows format zone" starting later on this year.

ARM chipsets are as powerful as Intel Core i3 last year and are as powerful as some of Core i5 right now and will be as strong as some of the Core i7 by next year.    ARM is creeping into all of Intel's home markets, from the bottom side up.

Intel has no presence in Mobile right now unless it is a "contra revenue" price supported product.   Nada, zip unless they literally give it away and then pay the vendor some "tech support" bribes to get them to use it.

Mobile is slowly taking over all the internet viewing, personal communications and casual gaming and other traditional functions of mainstream PC, with the sole exception of WORK RELATED ITEMS which tend to remain PC only at this time.   (this is changing, BTW)

The Intel house of cards is built by overcharging for all upper end products,  all business uses and any larger more powerful chipsets and rolling that money over into price supports for lower end products.    

As more products roll into the price supported class, fewer price inflated full price stuff is available to support the Intel "rob Peter to pay Paul" activities on the lower end.

Intel had to restructure at the end of this last fiscal year (literally changed it all up during the fiscal roll up for the year) so they could try to hide how just bad their real situation is at this point in time.

Look to see Intel's frantic attempts to protect their core business this year as it is being threatened by the new ARM cortex A72 products and Apple's impending A-10x chipsets.

As soon as Microsoft floats a real ARM native Windows 10 version and the playing field becomes flatter, look to see Intel start losing more home turf to the ARM hordes.

Tegra K1 was just the very first of the Mongol Horde that is coming to see Intel.


      ..... in the past 3 months the Tegra K1 broke up the Intel "contra revenue purchased monopoly" on ChromeSpace.  

And now here comes the Rockchip RK3288 chipset riding into ChromeSpace, firing a short Tartar saddle bow and swinging a curved sabre from horseback ....


I am not the only one that sees the Intel house of cards starting to come down -- read what the Apple folks have to say about MS and Intel starting to go their separate ways.

http://appleinsider.com/articles/15/01/07/after-intel-spent-billions-to-subsi...

"Intel's mobile chip division has lost $7 billion over the last two years while heavily subsidizing the manufacturing costs of Android tablet makers agreeing to use the chipmaker's Atom mobile x86 processors.   Microsoft's new Office for Android won't run on any of them."

What Apple is drawing attention to is Intel's forcing of a non-standard Android (Intel's own version) down everyone's throats by 7 billion dollars worth of Intel bribes and such -- totally wasted all that money since the products produced are a dead end at this point in time as neither Google Android nor Microsoft Win 10 are going to support them out into the future.

Apple's deep concern is reflected in their recent full rewrite of Apple Mac OSx to run directly on their own ARM processors and the new dual quad core design and last weeks FULL PRODUCTION QUOTING of the 10nm Apple built A-10x laptop chipset ( ships in summer of 2016 ).    

Apple has lost faith in Intel and is making other plans.   And Apple is already moving in on low cost laptop land to scoop up the large mass of business that Intel and MS are getting ready to let tumble to the ground.





Intel, what stinky brown vaporous PR rabbits can you possibly poop out of your pants to take everyone's attention off that burning handwriting that just showed up on your living room wall ????

Barcelona Spain, World Mobile Congress on 2-5th of next month -- look to see more brown vapor blasts from Intel to try to distract from the real Apple and real ARM product announcements that will start to hit the ground in Barcelona next month.

Watch for any breaking news of Apple's A-10x chipset  -- this will be the start of the end for Intel if Samsung or TSMC builds it.

Or else it will perhaps be the start of Intel's newest commercial venture with Apple, building 10nm ARM chipsets designed by Apple AT BELOW INTEL'S COST on Intel's very very best and newest lithography processes.

What is that they say about beggars cannot be choosers ???

http://www.anandtech.com/show/8991/intel-at-isscc-2015-reaping-the-benefits-o...

Intel explains why they were two years delayed in getting to 14nm (and still lack 8 months of a full production implementation) while claiming similar issues are present with 10nm ..... but it won't cause Intel any similar delay in reaching 10nm full production status.

<POOOOOOT !!!!>       whew !!!            

"It was explained that while 10nm will have more masking steps than 14nm, and the delays that bogged down 14nm coming late to market will not be present at 10nm – or at least reduced.

We were told that Intel has learned that the increase in development complexity of 14nm required more internal testing stages and masking implementations was a major reason for the delay, as well as requiring sufficient yields to go ahead with the launch.

As a result, Intel is improving the efficiency testing at each stage and expediting the transfer of wafers with their testing protocols in order to avoid delays. We were quoted that 10nm should be 50% faster to market than 14nm was as a result of these adjustments. (wow, 50% faster is only a year late)  

So while the additional masking steps at 10nm which ultimately increases fixed costs, Intel is still quoting that their methods results in a reducing in terms of cost per transistor without needing a completely new patterning process."


Well, that's good Intel because you got no "new patterning process" to get to 7nm to give out any information to anybody about.    You got nothing beyond what you got for 14nm.

Samsung will do 10nm for Apple using the tech Samsung just developed for Apple on Apple's dime.   Samsung will be searching for Apple's next 6-7nm process starting this summer, even while they are building the 10nm Apple A-10 and A-10x using two more passes on the existing production equipment they are already running the 14nm A-9 upon as we speak.

Speed and cost will go up together past 14nm -- count on it.

http://liliputing.com/2015/02/intel-atom-x3-x5-and-x7-chips-on-the-way.html

IN THE LAST WEEK ....

1)  Nvidia Tegra X1 announces, with amazing new performance gains (2x to Tegra K1) placing it in the Intel Core i5 group performance-wise

2)  Samsung announces full production of 14nm die shrunk Exynos with 35% gains over the last years 55% gains, which parks it up in the upper end of the Intel Core i3 range.

3)  AMD announces Carrizo with 40% less power required to do 3.5 times faster video processing (an effective and good total redesign of their 28nm mobile chipset that can then be die shrunk later to 14nm for even greater gains)

Everybody announced something pretty durn neat this week, this being the big "leak" week leading into the Barcelona Worldwide Mobile show ......

....... except for poor 'ol Intel, who proudly announced a renaming plan for their existing 22nm tablet chipsets.
(name classes to be good for any real new ones when they actually do come through though in reality).    

It's like they didn't want anyone to have to guess which over-priced chipsets were paying the big bribe money to get you to use the "new" Atom mobile series chipsets when they actually do get here ....

Phones don't need any more raw power -- Mid level phones are better than high end phones were two years ago and LOW level phones are equal to better to what the mid range phones used to be.   You can buy a 4.5" screen quad phone for $150 new and a really nice 5.0" screen octacore phone for $200-$250.   Phones need lower cost good screens and better longer lasting batteries, not more powerful SOC's.    

The endless upgrade thing is only really working for Apple right now, and there are some signs that that is faltering too .....

High end Windows Laptops and Desktops don't even need to be.   There is nothing a mid level Laptop/Desktop cannot do except be "sweeter" in the eye of the beholder.   All your really trendy upper end folks are now running a MacBook Pro instead and have simply fallen completely out of their old Windows habit.

ChromeZone needs help though -- there is intense make or break competition in the ChromeZone.    Most of the new sales this year will happen in the ChromeZone or a level just above it as people scope out the very best deals possible.

Intel and MS are spending support money in the ChromeZone like nobody's business since if they did not spend that money to have that almost controlling presence they think they might just disappear in a few years.   And they are right ..... because Tegra K1 is proving they can lose position in that space VERY quickly when they are not truly competitive price/feature wise even after all the support money & bribes.

Microsoft's problem is their software -- is isn't Chromezone friendly at this time AT ALL.  
MS OS is too fat and porky and all choked up with pre-installed crap.

Intel's problem is cost -- even their cheapest 22nm stuff is priced 1.5 times more than the ARM competition and is requiring LOTS of giveaway this and that and some serious ongoing direct bribes to even get put into a new product.  

When the bribes falter, the price shoots up and the production just plain stops.

Intel's next deeper problem is the old CISC vs RISC compatibility issues that have NOT gone away.  If you buy an Intel based Android tablet you are not getting a stock Android device that is auto upgradeable, what you get is a  Intel modded Android version that you are trusting the Oriental vendor to keep up with with all the fiddly tweekie upgrades (which ain't happening).  

MS made lots of noises about going into ARM in a big way, but just like Win 8 and Win 8.1 and Win RT the big MS promises are coming up more and more empty the closer we get to it.

Win 10 is smelling more and more like a "multiple variety set of programs" the closer it gets to finishing out.    Nadella keeps slapping his boy's punkin haids and telling them to do better, but that second, already twice postponed two year late deadline is coming up soon and the unified stuff still isn't ready.

So, MS, fall back some for release in Spring of 2016, MS ???   Trim some more fat, get rid of the adware and GET SOME RESPONSE SPEED back into those ChromeKiller class of machines  before you go throw them dice out there on to the craps table ???  

Or go for it this fall and mebbe have it flop again?   Choices, choices .....  

Google is jest waiting for you to finally finish your Win 10 up so they can one-up you with that big shiny ChromeDroid they just stuck out on their front lawn, you know.   They got their Pixel 2 in progress, jest a waiting fer ya to finish up.

The computer press ain't your buddy no more (not even the ones with the word Windows actually in their name) and your trial separation from your old Wintel marriage seems to have Intel going out and dating this cute lithe agile little Android chickie pretty heavy of late.   It is said he's been putting his RISC'y pieces up inside her and she's jest a gigglin' so they must be getting along pretty good together.

Nadella sez  "Trim the fat, get some quick in there !!!"  and MS's programmers are trying hard, but quick ain't so easy when you start out this much overweight  ....  plus if you are told to also support old hardware that makes it practically impossible to do.    

Apple periodically dumps all their old hardware support-wise and writes a brand new thin quick software that just supports the new quick hardware -- MS, is this what you will eventually have to do?  

Win 10 for ARM sounds like an excellent time/place to do just that -- dump all the cruft and go for the small and quick.    

  it ain't fat, buddy, it's compatability layers ....

       .....  MS, it kinda makes an old fat wrinkly & pudgy ex-married CISC gal feel all lonesome and alone at night, don't it ???   .....

http://liliputing.com/2015/03/mediateks-new-chips-include-the-first-arm-corte...

MediaTek’s new chip includes the first ARM Cortex-A72 processor



MT8173 quad-core tablet chip

"This processor is is a quad-core chip that combines two high-performance Cortex-A72 CPU cores with two more energy efficient Cortex-A53 CPU cores.

All told, MediaTek says the processor should offer up to 6 times the performance of the MT8125 quad-core ARM Cortex-A7 processor the company introduced in 2013.

The processor supports ARM’s big.LITTLE technology to pair the Cortex-A72 and Cortex-A53 CPU cores so that tablets can just tap the processor cores they need… but the chip supports using up to all 4 cores at once.

Features of this new processor include support for clock speeds up to 2.4 GHz, PowerVR GX6250 graphics with support for WQXGA displays and OpenGL ES 3.1 and support for devices with 20MP cameras.

MediaTek says this new processor is now available to customers for sampling. We should start to see tablets featuring the chip in the second half of 2015."

Key Takeaway is that this Mediatek quad core processor will have 6 times the processing capability of the existing quad core chipsets when produced at 20nm.  Smaller lithography will only make performance better, and in time that will come.

""MT8173 highlights the significant shift in how mobile devices, such as Android tablets, are used and, with the combination of ARM's latest technology, we are delivering a platform that answers the growing demand for improved mobile multimedia performance and power usage.  By presenting CPU specs that outperform any other device currently on the market, we are bringing PC-like performance in a tablet form factor, which reinforces MediaTek's continued commitment to deliver premium technology to everyone across the globe," said Joe Chen, Senior Vice President of MediaTek."

Intel, did you hear that?   Mediatek is leading the rest of the Mongol Horde with something that OUTPERFORMS 6x style and smells PC-like.    If your old ex-spouse MS gets mad at you and comes out with a totally new light lithe Win 10 for ARM your arse may be in trouble.

    ..... jilt me will ya, send me separation papers .....   I'm gonna slim down good & replace you with a fresh young 10nm ARM SOC and get me EIGHT smokin' hot loads of them fresh drippy risk'y bits all at the same time .....  no more of that slow little & limp CISC type stuff from you that just doesn't get my job done.   Ha !!!  With all 8 ARMs working me hard and coring away that will likely do me just fine.   It'd be so good I could bottle it and sell it.  Yeah, bottle it and sell it .....

"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned ...... "

http://liliputing.com/2015/03/lenovo-miix-300-windows-tablet-launches-this-su...



It's funny, Lenovo is at the Barcelona World Mobile Congress show proudly outing a 10" Windows tablet that only costs $150 and all the PC press people in attendance were all going   "Oooooh !! Wonderful !! " at it while the one mobile press guy that was there at the announcement snorted and left, turning away in disgust from his ignorant PC press brothers who were making all the gushy noises during the presentation.  

One of the comments he made in leaving was sorta strange "Been to Walmart lately?" and it piqued my interest enough to go look.

Uh, $150 is like triple the price of what is selling right now at your local Walmart.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/38364386?productRedirect=true



About this item:

"The Double Power ultra-fast tablet PC featuring Google Mobile Services keeps you connected with the rest of the world through its built-in WiFi. The Android 4.4 (KitKat) operating system supports a variety of applications. You can enjoy your favorite videos/movies, music and photos on the large 7.85-inch screen with 1024 x 768 HD resolution. Download and enjoy popular apps and games from the pre-installed Google Play Store with nearly 1 million apps to choose from. With 16GB of storage memory, there is ample space for downloads and 1GB of system memory allows you to download and store music, images, videos, eBooks and more. Connect and enjoy video on your HDTV via HDMI. A custom case and USB keyboard are included."

And yes, this Broadcom processor equipped Oriental Android unit comes with the folio and the keyboard and with windowing software and office apps and etc. etc. etc. all for $59 and that is normal pricing without somebody giving away the processor and the software for free.

And Walmart is indeed selling four other bigger, more powerful processor & slightly more expensive units than this one, with bigger screens and they do seem to be better made and better integrated.  

None of them get up to half the cost of the "ooooh !!!" Lenovo Windows bare tablet though.

Folks, this stuff is creeping up from the bottom end faster and faster and faster all the time.   Sneaking up on us, being sold in local stores, getting real.  

And no, the Lenovo unit does run Windows and that makes it two to three times better and worth the 2x-3x higher price, right?    

What happens when Win 10 for ARM hits the streets late this fall or early next summer?

Say MS has been BS'ing us all along and has no actual plans to ever do an ARM WIN 10 at all, ever  -- what happens when the Android/Chrome fusion hits the streets this fall or next spring actually running lickty split fast on the then current crop of even more powerful mobile chipsets?

You can't overcome a 2-3x price differential with bribes, the math just doesn't work out.   You simply can't steal enough $$$ from Peter to pay Paul at those 2x-3x levels.

Intel Outs its full plan for Mobile (in addition to initially making its own 14nm versions of Cherry Trail, Intel starts sourcing more ARM CHIPSETS from TSMC/Rockchip/Spreadtrum)



Intel cannot compete with ARM prices.  Intel must "beat them or join them" at this stage of the game and has come up with a way to try to do both.   Intel will compete only at the Atom x7 level with "discrete component" chipsets (ie non-integrated Intel designs) that they initially build themselves.

At Atom x3 level Rockchip ARM standard products will be re-name branded as Intel.   This isn't pretty and ARM Holdings may have something to say about whenever Intel PR brown clouds ARM intellectual property as their own.   Intel and Rockchip have to be careful not to violate the terms of their licenses.

So, Intel is now the equivalent of Qualcomm and Samsung, somebody who licenses ARM designs and tweeks them a bit.




In the chart just above Intel starts their new bout of lying at the Atom x3 level ....   Intel color codes the processor as being "their design" yet it uses Mali graphics and ARM standard cores.   Atom x5 likely has more Intel inside it, but it is mostly undefined at this time.

Also please notice that only one of the new Atom x7 chipsets has a 4G radio in it ......  this plan is obviously aimed mostly at Asia and opening markets.    Intel knows the American phone market is upscale and in that market they have no phone chip at all.

WHAT DOES THIS SIGNIFY ???    Intel is going to stop wasting money attempting to build cell phone chipsets.  After 4 years of beating their heads bloody up against the wall they will now only attempt to make a few cases of non-integrated low upper end stuff in their own facilities (can you say tablet and Chromespace chips) and will simply buy everything else fully integrated from somebody else.  

They are taking the first steps down the path that AMD tread, driven by the exact same necessities.   Look to see Intel's foundry ranking decline as they make fewer and fewer chips themselves.

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

Also note, Intel is defining away both Sophia and Cherry Trail by referencing the terms to their new naming system (by doing so they obliviate all the promises made in the past that obviously will never come to reality now).

"The Intel Atom x3 line of chips are aimed at entry-level devices which could sell for as little as $75 or even less. These chips will be based on Intel’s SoFIA platform and include low-power processors and integrated modems.

More powerful chips based on the new Cherry Trail architecture will be branded with the Intel Atom x5 or Atom x7 names for mid-range and higher-performance systems."

Intel has not announced a single new processor,  but has announced a renaming of the entire line. a line that incorporates other people's products and a complete retreat from all past promises of internal progress.

At 14nm Intel is a failure, having come to the mobile market part of a year late and only offering a 4% processor speed improvement and still being non-integrated on their own Intel built designs.

Intel will now begin to tout other people's production and designs .....  which means they tacitly admit their own stuff isn't up to snuff and that they are giving up.

Today, Intel becomes just another USA name branding company, similar to what HP has become.

With Motorola, IBM, AMD, HP and now Intel starting to exit domestic chip manufacturing then this signals the beginning of the short strokes at the end of the Silicone Valley era of USA based computing.