ARM and Intel have been duking it out over netbook CPU dominance for ages, with the Atom usually in the winning side. But ARM says that is bound to change, and COO Graham Budd has stepped up in a recent interview to answer some questions about where he thinks netbooks and ARM are going.
Budd first emphasized an oft-repeated claim by ARM: consumers don't like netbooks. While oodles of data from industry analysts beg to differ, Budd nonetheless claims that ARM can bring an end to this 'dilemma':
People who buy a netbook also think they are buying a cheap laptop. And then they get disappointed that it can't do what a laptop does. … [ARM] will provide a rich internet experience, as good as X86 processor ones. The boot time will be faster, the battery life will be substantially higher, and the cost will be lower . ARM-based netbooks will also be smaller because we don't have to put in a fan to cool the processor , as its energy consumption is very low.
Specifically, Budd thinks average netbook prices could drop below $200 bucks. But it will take more than price drops to get ARM more netbook market share, as Graham Budd acknowledges – he says consumers will be impressed by netbook models packing the Cortex A8, due in 2010, and the Cortex A9 for beefier machines.
You can check out the full interview here.
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