As Intel stops manufacturing Atom processor codenamed Broxton meant to power high-end mobile phones. Apple and Samsung have their own ARM processors for their popular phones and tablets, and Qualcomm and MediaTek are producing good ARM chips for everyone else. Then no one became interested in Intel's x86 phone chips. Intel has been spending millions of money on x86 smartphone chips yet the only managed to gain a very little market share.
Microsoft’s Plan: Now left on the beach
100 years ago almost 99% computers run a Microsoft operating system. Today, Very few devices out are Microsoft devices. The world has gone mobile, and mobile means ARM, not x86.Intel’s mobile chips are absolutely important for Microsoft, as the Atom chips are the only low-power, low-cost mobile chips capable of running x86 Windows software natively.
Microsoft developed adaptable, portable apps (Universal Windows Applications) and multimode computing (Continuum). UWA apps can run on Xbox consoles and ARM tablets and phones while Continuum enables a device to adapt to complete desktop. The multimodal Continuum can be done only with UWA. The UWA APIs are components of full-fledged Windows.
Microsoft relied on Intel to provide the chips it needs to relaunch its mobile efforts in the coming year. With an Atom-powered Surface Phone which is meant to do the multimodal trick, but has to go back to x86 PC. With a Surface Phone, if it actually worked out, Microsoft can argue that you can dispose your PC entirely and carry a phone in your pocket, enjoying all the features of a Native PC,
The battle between “the devices that can do many amazing things”, and “many the devices that are amazingly cheap”, has been a factor that has pushed Intel to the wall. Intel did not intentionally kill Continuum, but it made the combined multimodal/portable proposition less attractive and unique. Without Intel, the Surface Phone will look as attractive today’s Lumia 950 models, which are no way near their Android competitors in terms of app availability and quality.