To try and improve its business performance in the wireless and mobile sectors Intel Corp. has hired Amir Faintuch, previously president of the Atheros business unit at Qualcomm Inc., according to a Reuters report.
Intel, which rose to be the world's leading chip maker on its strength in processors for the personal computer has been struggling against agile fabless competitors – such as Qualcomm – since the rise of the smartphone and tablet computer (see Intel Reveals Financial Black Hole Called Mobile).
Faintuch is joining Intel is joining Intel as senior vice president and co-general manager of the platform engineering group at Intel, Reuters said referencing Intel spokesperson Chuck Mulloy as its source.
According to his LinkedIn entry Faintuch joined Atheros in September 2008 as general manager of the company's mobile business unit from Texas Instruments where he had built up experience in mobile connectivity ICs, which integrate multiple radios for Bluetooth, GPS, FM radio, near field communications. Atheros was a market leader in CMOS wireless LAN chipsets that was acquired by Qualcomm in May 2011 for $3.1 billion.
Faintuch will therefore bring experience at producing system chips that combine application processor and wireless modems and are designed to implement functionality tuned for smartphone or tablet equipment. This is a sector that Intel has struggled in and has been reduced to outsourcing manufacturing of some chips and partnering with a Chinese fabless chip company, Rockchip, to try and gain design wins in Android tablets (see Intel Partners With Rockchip For Tablet Push).
"We want to accelerate our success rate with SoCs and get the designs aligned and the roadmaps aligned to do that," Reuters quoted Mulloy as saying. "We've made good progress but there’s more to be done. Amir has extensive management experience and a strong resume."
Brian Krzanich, Intel CEO since 2013, has been striving to try and make Intel more agile and this has included increasing Intel's role as a foundry supplier of semiconductor manufacturing to the industry.
Related links and articles:
IHS semiconductors and components research services
News articles:
Intel Reveals Financial Black Hole Called Mobile
Intel Partners With Rockchip For Tablet Push
