Intel slow on mobile chips

SAN FRANCISCO - Intel, the largest maker of computer chips, got a late start in developing semiconductors for mobile devices, chief executive Officer Paul Otellini said at a conference.

"I wish we had started earlier," Otellini said yesterday at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.

Intel has been trying to win business from handset vendors with its Atom processor, a scaled-down version of its PC chips. It has signed agreements to supply Atom products to Nokia and LG Electronics. Otellini said smartphones carrying Intel semiconductors will be released next year.

Efforts to develop mobile chips got added boost from Intel's agreement to buy the wireless operations of Infineon Technologies for about US$1.4 billion ($1.87 billion).

- BLOOMBERG