Adobe's Flash On Phones A Victory For ARM-Based Mobile Chips
06 Ottobre 2009 - 8:20PM
Dow Jones News
Adobe Systems Inc.'s (ADBE) move to make Flash software
available for handheld devices represents a small but important
victory for mobile chip makers in the battle with Intel Corp.
(INTC) for the smartphone and mobile markets.
For Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM), Texas Instruments Inc. (TXN), Nvidia
Corp. (NVDA) and others, the move lets their mobile chips - based
on designs from U.K.-based ARM Holdings PLC (ARMH) - access videos
on popular sites like YouTube or Hulu. Previously, only chips for
computers could offer full access to those sites, one of Intel's
arguments for why its chips have a place in the mobile segment.
With Adobe's help, ARM chips have gained an edge as they battle
Intel for a dominant position in everything from cellphones to
netbooks.
"ARM is arming itself. It is making its platform more and more
attractive, battening down the hatches for the expected Intel
onslaught," said Roger Kay, president of research firm Endpoint
Technologies.
Monday, Adobe unveiled the latest version of its popular Flash
software for smartphones, netbooks and other mobile devices. The
software will work on a number of mobile operating systems,
including Google Inc.'s (GOOG) Android and Microsoft Corp.'s (MSFT)
Windows Mobile, and will let devices running the software access
the Flash video on the Internet like a traditional PC.
Without the new Flash version, mobile devices generally can't
access Web videos using an Internet browser. Instead of watching
the latest Jay-Z video on YouTube, a smartphone user will get an
error message or a Flash logo.
But starting later this year, some devices will have that
capability. For instance, any mobile device run on Nvidia's Tegra
chip will be able to download and install this latest version of
Flash as soon as Adobe releases it, said Mike Rayfield, head of
Nvidia's mobile unit.
Up until now, "Intel could sort of stand up on a podium and say,
'You can't do the Internet on ARM chips,'" Rayfield said. "In
reality, what they were saying is, 'You can't do Flash, and the
Internet is Flash."
"Well, now we can do Flash," he added.
Smartphones and other mobile gadgets have represented an
important market for chip players, particularly in the current
recession. They've been some of the fastest growing areas for tech
sales, even as PC growth has declined.
While Nvidia and others focus on bringing a PC-like experience
on mobile devices, Intel is tweaking its chips - which dominate the
PC market - to run at much lower power levels.
The tech titan has had smashing success with its low-cost,
low-power Atom chip for netbooks, and Intel is working on new
designs that will let it run even smaller gadgets, like
smartphones, which need to work all day on a single battery charge.
But those chips won't be available until at least next year, and
some analysts have suggested that an Intel chip that has the power
levels to be successful in a smartphone is still years away.
Intel said progress in lowering the power levels in its chips
will give it access to the high end of the smartphone market with a
chip coming out next year.
When it comes to the impact of Adobe's mobile announcement,
Intel spokeswoman Claudine Mangano said, "We'll wait to see the
actual devices that are in the market that will support Flash."
Meanwhile, ARM chip makers are trying to move from smartphones
into more PC-like devices. Qualcomm, with its Snapdragon chip, is
promoting devices called Smartbooks that are similar in size and
style to netbooks.
"ARM is moving up in terms of software support faster than Intel
is moving down in terms of its ability to lower the power," said
Nathan Brookwood, chip industry analyst with Insight64. "That
doesn't bode very well for Intel."
-By Jerry A. DiColo, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2155;
jerry.dicolo@dowjones.com