Intel's (INTC) Small Chips May Have No Market

Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) is introducing new tiny chips aimed at the mobile computing market. According to The Wall Street Journal the are "designed to be the calculating engine for pocket-sized gadgets that Intel calls MIDs, for mobile Internet devices."

Intel’s small chips may have a big problem. They may not have much of a market.

Next-generation smartphones and the RIM (NASDAQ: RIMM) Blackberry are already the equivalent of modest computers which can be put into pockets or purses. As Nokia (NYSE: NOK) and other handset companies make more powerful products the need for another "intelligent device" is quickly going away. Chip companies which operate in the field of cell products, especially Broadcom (NASDAQ: BRCM), Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM), and Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) are not likely to walk off the field simply because Intel has a new chip.

Intel has tried to get into chips for home entertainment, WiMax, and a series of other "new" products. It may want to stick with PCs and servers.

Douglas A. McIntyre