Intel is closing down its Atom division and finally giving up on its plans to make a foray into the smartphone and tablet market. Atom was initially intended to scale down Intel's desktop x86 processor architecture for it to work efficiently with mobile devices. While it was an interesting idea at first, the strategy did not work well as the mobile market is dominated by ARM processors, which work on either Android or the iOS platform.

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Processors like the Qualcomm Snapdragon, the Apple Ax series, and even the ones from MediaTek all use ARM architecture. Intel decided to enter the market with high hopes but was plagued by compatibility issues which in turn forced the company to quit the pursuit.

Many tech analysts liken Intel's foray into the mobile chip industry to Windows' effort to shake the smartphone industry. In the end, both companies have been unsuccessful against well-established competitors in the market. However, Windows did manage to attract a fair portion of the market, unlike Intel which did not make a noticeable dent at all.

Intel's Atom division is unprofitable, hence, the decision to close it. The Intel Broxton and Intel SoFIA, both of which were scheduled to be integrated into mobile devices this year, have been pulled out. Moreover, the Cherry Trail, which managed to find its way into the Microsoft Surface 3, is likely to also be pulled from the market.

While some analysts claim that the main reason why Intel is pulling these chips out of the market is solely for profitability reasons,others believe that Intel made some misguided decisions in the design of these chips. The Cherry Trail, for example, overlaps with the more powerful Core M series.

Intel is currently facing some tough times as the company recently laid off 12,000 of its employees as part of its restructuring plan which could include ditching some of its product lines.

TagsIntel, Intel Atom, atom, Atom chips, Atom processor, Intel Atom chips, Intel Atom processors, Intel x86, Arm, ARM chips, x86 chips