Samsung May Become King of the 'Mobile Chip' Hill as Peers Stumble (INTC)

Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) is on watch Friday following a report that sees Samsung potentially outpacing the company in the mobile processor segment.

CNET highlighted how Samsung is planning to spend $15 billion over the next few years to open a semiconductor facility in South Korea by 2017. The company is also implementing three new chip-making techniques at once, versus the industry standard of learning/implementing one at a time. The jump ahead could lead to low yields, but Samsung appears to be capitalizing on the risk with new customers and a bigger slice of the market.

For example, Samsung surprised plenty of market watchers when it announced 14-nanometer chip technology months ahead of peer Taiwan Semi (NYSE: TSM). While TSM is moving to implement the technology, being several months behind could cost customers and, ultimately, revenue that could be used to advance its R&D process.

Samsung was able to do this by skipping over learning the 20-nm process and moving down to 14-nm. TSM currently uses 20-nm technology for Apple's A8 and A8X chips.

Notably, Intel outpaced Samsung to the technology by six months, but is slow in implementing it into its mobile processors. That sort of delay will also cost Intel some of its mobile chip market share, a segment that the company can't really afford to lose as PC sales continue to dwindle.

Shares of Intel are lower in early trading Friday.

You May Also Be Interested In

• Mobileye Secured Orders for 46M Of New EyeQ6 Lite Driver-assistance Chips - Reuters
• Coinbase (COIN) EPS preview - BofA
• Intel to launch two AI chips for China with reduced capabilities