“Embedded” Computers, Retail Shopping and Growth

We have a fairly large division within Intel loosely referred to as the Embedded Computing group. I’ve never liked the word embedded personally, it doesn’t say much about what that group does, which is a lot — and possibly a lot more.

I sort of define it as a division where Intel sells processors and platforms that target computing-related machines that aren’t PCs, laptops or servers. Think networking devices, printers, cash registers, ‘smart’ vending machines, automobiles and probably 1000s of other devices, especially now that we have Xeon, Core and Atom in our suite of products.

As more and more of these devices connect to the Internet and/or wish to become ‘smarter,’ the growth of the embedded market could explode. Plus, if you add a city-wide, high-speed broadband umbrella like WiMAX, or some cool things like adding the Internet to your car, your home to better manage and check electricity usage, or even dishwasher robotics, you can see that Intel’s prediction for billions more devices that are all connected could become true.

That’s why our embedded division is classified as a key growth area for Intel, along with our CE, netbook, MID, healthcare and a couple of other areas.

Well, the NY Times has been following this market closely the past few weeks. There is a column today about our retail efforts via a smart kiosk, and a couple of weeks ago there was a story about Intel and Microsoft and how there are many R&D ideas on the table that could make everything from traffic to elevators smarter and more efficient. Worth the quick reads.