Chinese vendor ZTE has revealed plans to use Intel mobile chips in more of its smartphones, in a potential coup for Intel's efforts to break into the handset market.
ZTE and Intel signed a collaboration to design next-gen smartphones using Intel's brand new Atom Z2580 chips, the companies announced.
The agreement follows the launch of ZTE's first - and currently only – smartphone using an Intel processor, the Grand X IN, in mid-2012.
Intel unveiled the new processor and its two cousins at last week's Mobile World Congress as part of its new Atom SoC platform.
The Z2580 is a dual-core 2 GHz processor capable of “hyper threading” four simultaneous threads. The SoC platform also includes a graphics processor with support for a display resolution of up to 1920x1200.
While Intel dominates the desktop space, the company currently has a negligible market share in mobile devices. With smartphones and tablets eating into desktop PC sales, the pressure is on for the company to carve out a place in the mobile segment.