Intel fights PC slump, pushes Haswell chips at Computex

Intel Corp and personal-computer makers are relying on a new power-sipping chip to restore demand to an ailing PC market reeling from consumers abandoning laptops for tablets.

Called Haswell, the chip design delivers 50 per cent more battery life than Intel's previous model, enabling thinner, lighter notebooks and machines that convert to tablets. PC makers including Hewlett-Packard Co will show devices with the chip this week at Computex, the biggest annual computer event.

Intel unveiled its fourth generation processor on Tuesday, which is built to be used in 2-in-1 designs like those used for convertible computers that can go from a notebook to a tablet. Intel says the new processor, based on its flagship 22-nanometer microarchitecture, will also provide twice the graphics capability.

As Intel enters a predicted second straight year without revenue growth, Chief Executive Officer Brian Krzanich is counting on Haswell and other energy-efficient processors in the pipeline to bolster laptop sales and win more business in tablets. By 2015, global tablet shipments are expected to eclipse PCs as consumers flock to smaller, more affordable machines, according to researcher IDC.

"For the first time there will be lower price points and new form factors that will help PCs," said Tristan Gerra, an analyst at Robert W Baird & Co in San Francisco. "In notebooks, Haswell is the first laptop chip that's going to provide enough battery life."

"We're seeing some really great momentum in our customers. We got over 30 tablet designs already on, across Android and Windows, and we expect to have them for the holidays," Gregory Bryant, Intel's Asia Pacific vice-president and general manager said in an interview on Tuesday at the Computex trade show in Taiwan.

Haswell is Intel's latest attempt to move away from producing processors that suck as much electricity as small TVs to make chips that can let laptop users watch three movies on a single battery charge. Devices on display at Computex in Taipei will highlight the chip's ability to blur the lines between tablets and laptops, allowing transformable machines with detachable touch screens and keypads.

'Tablet demand'
"We are all in on Haswell," said Ron Coughlin, senior vice-president for consumer PCs and solutions at Hewlett-Packard. "We know the convertible area can pick up some of the tablet demand."

Apple Inc will include Haswell in the MacBook, according to people familiar with the plans who asked not to be named because the information isn't public.