Android + NVIDIA is expected to be the next Wintel?

Microsoft and Intel have dominated the development of the personal computer industry in the past 30 years. Nowadays, more and more competitors in the global market want to steal this field. It is expected to break the Wintel Alliance (Microsoft Windows operating system combined with Intel X86 chips). Long-term monopoly situation.

The development in the mobile PC world is just like the microcosm of the development of the entire PC industry. The only difference is that Microsoft and Intel, which have been a big player in the PC industry in the past, do not seem to be able to bring past successful experience into the mobile PC market. If the situation does not improve, then 2011 is likely to become a turning point for the PC industry for the following reasons.

People spend more and more time on mobile devices such as smartphones because the performance and applications of these devices are constantly improving.



Due to the ease of use and portability of multi-touch panels, the use of population is expected to surge in 2011 (including children, the elderly, and even people who were afraid of using PCs in the past), and the application level can be widely used in various scenarios (work environment , conference rooms, etc.).

In 2011, smart phones are expected to replace some personal computers, such as Motorola's Atrix 4G, equipped with dual-core processors and docks, and use and functions as a complete personal computer (similar products may become mainstream in 2012 ).

In developing countries, mobile devices are used as the main device for PC use and Internet access, because for most people, it is easier to start mobile devices than PCs, and it is also easier to connect to the Internet (after all, setting up base stations is better than laying copper or fiber networks. It's much easier.)

Therefore, if the influence of Microsoft Windows and Intel chips in the PC market will gradually retreat behind the scenes, who will come out and replace them? Most people may think of Apple. After all, the company successfully shifted its strategy to mobile devices, from laptops and tablets to smart phones to portable media devices. In 2010, it surpassed Microsoft to become the world's largest technology company. .

Apple's vertical integration model does bring considerable revenue and great products to the company, but this also limits Apple's alliance with other PC industries to create greater market share. Therefore, experts believe that the next generation of PC industry may be dominated by Google Android and NVIDIA.

Of course, Android currently has its own challenges. For example, the lack of a standardized operating system leads to different user experience, and it also causes the software itself to face difficulties. Even so, Android still strives to become a universal mobile device operating system, just like Windows on a personal computer, which is also Android is the operating system that most mobile device OEMs are willing to invest resources in developing.

Although the outside world has a skeptical attitude toward Google's investment in the software industry, Motorola used Google's Android 3.0 Honeycomb interface to use the latest Atrix 4G products. This made the outside world stunning the performance of Android. It believes that Android is not just a good smartphone. The operating system also has great potential for the development of operating systems for tablet computers and thin and light notebooks.

From a hardware point of view, NVIDIA, which used to produce high-end graphics cards for personal computers, seems to be gaining ground in the mobile device market. In recent years, R&D on dedicated processors for mobile devices has also allowed NVIDIA to gradually catch up with past mobile chip makers such as Qualcomm and Texas Instruments.

NVIDIA has drawn experience from designing PC-specific graphics chips in the past to deliver high-speed, high-performance graphics and low-power chips. The first generation of the NVIDIA Tegra processor was first used on Microsoft's Zune HD media player, which was already very impressive.

At this year's CES, NVIDIA introduced the new dual-core Tegra 2 processor, and various tablet makers have also launched tablets and smart phones equipped with Tegra 2 processors. This is arguably the most popular product at CES this year.

NVIDIA CEO Huang Renxun said at CES that we need to have the portability of smart phones and devices with PC performance. From NVIDIA's press conference at CES, it is not difficult to find that the company is optimistic about the changes that the mobile PC will bring. From the information revealed by NVIDIA, whether it is a mobile PC-specific ARM processor or operating system (such as iOS and Android Both have shown tremendous growth. In contrast, the X86 processor used by PCs and the Windows operating system have entered a period of plateau, and it is difficult to have an astonishing performance.

NVIDIA will also release the Tegra 3 processor this year. This processor jointly developed with ARM will be used in high-performance notebooks, desktops, servers and supercomputers. It can be seen that NVIDIA is not only satisfied with the mobile computing field.

In the development of the mobile computing market, it may be difficult to see the glory of the past PC era monopolised by Microsoft and Intel’s 80-90% market share. It is foreseeable that Apple will still obtain a considerable market share in the vertical integration model, and the BlackBerry will continue to maintain its position in the corporate market with high security demand with its unique platform. The remaining market will be Nokia, Microsoft and other vendors share food. In the hardware section, Qualcomm and Texas Instruments will continue to maintain their position in the mobile market.

However, the biggest winners in the future may still be Android and NVIDIA, because these two manufacturers do not limit themselves to the field of handheld devices, but actively develop the existing Wintel market.