Outgoing Intel CEO Foresees Prices of Touch-Enabled Win 8 Devices Dropping to US$400

Outgoing Intel CEO Paul Otellini believes that the next generation of Haswell processors will bring along a new wave of Windows 8 touch-enabled devices with more attractive price points down into the US$300 or US$400 range. This may happen as OEMs start exploring new form factors for these devices.

During the company's recent first quarter earnings conference call, Otellini revealed that he has switched to Windows 8 and admitted that the adoption curve for the new touch-centric operating system is a lot sharper than previous generations of the Windows operating system. However, he felt that people are actually attracted to the new approach of Windows 8; however, the prices of Windows 8 touch-enabled devices are relatively high but he speculated that they will begin to reduce rapidly over the next few quarters.

He also spoke about the next generation 22nm Intel quad-core Atom 'Bay Trail' SoC (system on chip) that is touted as the most powerful Intel Atom processor that will be launched by the second half of the year and by the year's end, the Intel 'Merrifield' Atom SoC is slated for launch and will be featured in smartphones.

These new chips will enable Intel to extend their product offerings across screen sizes, price points, and even operating systems as the company ships designs across both Windows 8 and Android operating systems. As PC shipment figures had seen their worst decline in the first quarter, the remaining three will be challenging for PC manufacturers as they may have to contend with reduced revenues as the very devices they hope to sell, fall in their consumer prices. For consumers, they will avoid buying a new PC as they have more mobile computing alternatives to choose from.

(Source: Business Insider)

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