In a bid to bolster its presence in tablets Intel forms a "strategic agreement" with Chinese mobile chip maker Rockchip in the production of Intel-based chipsets for entry-level Android tablet use.
The agreement does not include investment between the two companies.
One Rockchip-made, Intel-branded result of the agreement is an Atom-based quad-core chipset making part of the SoFIA entry-level mobile SoC family.
In fact the SoFIA family to grow by 3 different offerings-- a dual-core 3G version to ship on Q4 2014, a quad-core 3G version to ship on H2 2015 and an LTE version also due in H2 2015.
"The strategic agreement with Rockchip is an example of Intel's commitment to take pragmatic and different approaches to grow our presence in the global mobile market by more quickly delivering a broader portfolio of Intel architecture and communications technology solutions," Intel CEO Brian Krzanich says.
Intel already sells Atom chips to Lenovo, but the Rockchip deal is a first-- the company makes ARM-based SoCs for use in the low-end sub-$150 Android tablets popular in emerging markets.
