Samsung Electronics has chosen an Intel Corp processor to power a new version of one of its top-tier Android tablets, a source with knowledge of the plans told Reuters, in a major victory for the U.S. chipmaker, which is struggling to find its footing in the mobile market.
Samsung has chosen Intel's Clover Trail+ mobile chip for at least one version of its Galaxy Tab 3 10.1, which competes with Apple Inc's iPad, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday, speaking on condition of anonymity because the specifications have not been announced.
Samsung has previously used chips designed with energy-efficient technology from the UK's ARM Holdings for its best-selling mobile devices. It employs Intel processors for its line of Microsoft Windows "ATIV" tablets -- a much smaller market compared with devices based on Google Inc's Android.
Samsung will unveil new ATIV tablets using Intel chips at a June 20 event in London, said the source, as well as an additional person familiar with the event. It was unclear whether the Galaxy Tab would debut at the same event.
The Asian electronics giant's decision to begin using Intel in a marquee Android device counts as a coup for the US chipmaker as it races to establish itself in a mobile market it was slow initially to recognize and invest in.
It was unclear whether the Samsung, the world's largest manufacturer of tablets after Apple, plans other versions of the 10-inch Galaxy Tab carrying its own, or other companies', processors.
A spokeswoman for South Korea-based Samsung declined to comment. An Intel spokesman also declined to comment.
The use of an Intel Clover Trail+ chip in the upcoming tablet was first reported on by VentureBeat and other blogs last week.
Intel has called the shots in the personal computer industry for decades, but was slow to make chips that appealed to makers of smartphones and tablets as the market boomed following Apple's iPhone in 2007 and iPad in 2010.
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