UPDATED 21:54 EDT / MAY 15 2016

NEWS

Venkata Renduchintala: Intel will rule the Internet of Things

Intel is going through one of the most tumultuous periods in its history, with declining PC sales negatively impacting its biggest business and forcing the company to layoff over 12,000 employees, but that hasn’t stopped the company from setting its sights on dominance of pastures new – namely the cloud and IoT.

Intel’s layoffs were announced just two weeks ago, and were rapidly followed by the news that it’s also decided to stop making some low-powered systems-on-a-chip (SoCs) for smartphones. Those decisions were made, in part, so the company can free up resources to focus on newer growth areas, said Intel CEO Brian Krzanich in a blog post last week.

In his post, Krzanich explained Intel would be focusing on the Internet of Things (IoT), cloud and 5G as part of the company’s new “virtuous cycle of growth”. One of the key engineers of Krzanich’s plan is former Qualcomm executive Venkata “Murthy” Renduchintala, who joined Intel in November last year and has since been named as president of the company’s new Client and Internet of Things Businesses and Systems Architecture Group. Hiring an executive from one of its competitors was an unusual move for Intel, which normally looks inwards for its hires. Indeed, Renduchintala’s arrival was quickly followed by the departure of several other, long-term executives, suggesting a much bigger upheaval is in play. That much is clear from Krzanich’s post, but late last week Renduchintala chipped in with his own blog post outlining his reasons for joining the firm and his view of Intel’s transformation.

In his post, Renduchintala explains that Intel is well positioned to address emerging business opportunities thanks to its decades of experience in creating open ecosystems and powering the world’s PCs and servers.

“All of this is why I’m bullish on Intel, and why I joined this company.” Renduchintala wrote. “I know that we’ll win in the connectivity revolution fueled by the IoT. I’m resolute in my belief that Intel is the only company on the planet that can do all of this from one end of the network to the other, delivering unique value to our customers.”

Intel has bought into the prediction that there will be more than 50 billion connected devices that make up the IoT by 2020, and each of those devices will need a way to communicate. Intel believes that 5G networks are best suited for that job, and that’s the direction Intel is headed in, Renduchintala said.

“All of this will put unprecedented demands on today’s networks, and require a new generation of technology that can serve a far broader set of devices, volumes of data and human need for connectedness,” Renduchintala wrote. “5G is the inflection point from network needs driven largely by PCs and smartphones to an entirely new platform that connects a broad range of ‘things’ to each other, to people and to the cloud.”

Renduchintala added in his post that Intel will continue to play a key role in the PC and mobile spaces, even as the company tries to distance itself from those markets. The executive said that it’s crucial people realize that the definition of both markets is changing – “mobile” isn’t just about smartphones anymore, he said, but includes all of the billions of devices that make up the IoT, including sensors, tablets, PCs, smartphones and more. In addition, “mobile” also means connectivity, things like 5G, LTE, WiFi, Bluetooth, Ethernet, radio frequency and more.

“We’re aligning our products and architectures to an entire panorama of smart and connected devices, and in so doing, we’re enabling exciting new experiences,” Renduchintala wrote. “We are not exiting mobile, but we are broadening its definition to make it synonymous with the interconnectedness of the more than 50 billion ‘things.'”

Renduchintala said that similarly, “computing” no longer just refers to PCs and servers. Instead, it should be viewed as a concept that encompasses devices connected via networks. The PC might be changing, but is still a crucial aspect of Intel’s future, the executive insisted.

“The PC is foundational to our compute strategy and to our business,” he wrote. “It’s an engine that creates critical shared IP that drives innovation across our entire product portfolio. Intel will continue to deliver an annual cadence of leadership performance and innovation in our PC and broader computing roadmap, with a focus on key growth opportunities in 2 in 1s, gaming and home gateways.”

Intel’s SoCs, which were previously aimed at smartphones and tablets only, will now be built for all IoT devices, including drones, robots, smart cars, retail systems, and smartphones, the exec said. He added that Intel has both the hardware and software assets to complete this transition quickly, and said that’s the reason why he’s so “bullish” about the company’s future prospects.

“I’m resolute in my belief that Intel is the only company on the planet that can do all of this from one end of the network to the other, delivering unique value to our customers,” he said.

Image credit: Intel Newsroom

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