Intel Rumored to Debut New Dual-Core Atom Smartphones at MWC

Chip-maker Intel will be leveraging the Mobile World Congress show at the end of the month to establish more ground in the mobile smartphone market by showcasing additional smartphones running new Atom processors. Traditionally, Android phones have relied on architecture from ARM Holding, and Intel is looking to break into the mobile market and challenge ARM with its x86-based low-powered Atom CPU.

The company has published that it would be showcasing smartphones, tablets, and Ultrabooks at its booth MWC.

“Specifically, Intel will showcase its latest smartphone technologies and devices running the Android platform, including a new dual core, dual graphics platform, as well as OEM- and service provider-supported devices based on the company’s new Intel AtomTM Z2420 platform targeted at emerging markets,” Intel said via a release.

Though the smartphones will not be made by Intel, they are made by manufacturing partners who would use Intel’s Atom CPU, much like how the traditional PC market works. The first commercially available smartphone with an Atom processor is Motorola’s RAZR i smartphone, which uses the Motorola Droid RAZR M body coupled with Intel’s CPU guts. Lenovo also announced the Lenovo K900 smartphone for the Chinese market that makes use of Intel’s latest Clover Trail+ Z2580 dual-core CPU.

It’s unclear if Intel’s latest quad-core Atom processor, known as Bay Trail, will also be on display in new hardware at MWC. Bay Trail promises twice the performance of Clover Trail and is a quad-core chipset based on an even more efficient 22nm manufacturing process, which should mean added performance and better battery life. Bay Trail was announced for a late 2013 release and should debut on tablet hardware first.

Intel will have to compete with newer ARM processors that will be released this year in commercial products, including NVIDIA’s Tegra 4, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 600 and 800 series, and Samsung’s Exynos 5-Octa.