Wednesday, June 15, 2005

What's really behind Apple-Intel alliance? | CNET News.com

What's really behind Apple-Intel alliance? | CNET News.com: "Many people in the industry believe that Jobs is racing quietly toward a direct challenge to Microsoft and Sony in the market for digital entertainment gear for the living room."

I know that I said I wasn't going to post anything this week since I'm on vacation, but I was reading the news this morning and thought that this article was worth a mention. This NYT piece has a very interesting perspective on the new Macintel relationship where the real driving factor for both Apple and Intel is control of the living room. Xbox 360 & PS3 both are well poised to be the centerpiece of digital living room (neither of which use Intel processors). Media Center PCs certainly have a role as well, but they can't compete on the $300 price point of these other devices. If the game consoles get good traction as media hubs, then that limits Intel to a role as the main CPU in the PCs that they are connected to (or not). This is not enough for them, as they want to be powering multiple connected devices in the home. This new relationship opens up the possibility of a sub-$500 Mac(Intel) Mini sitting in your AV Rack for those that aren't gamers.

A enlightening read. Take a look....

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