Therese Poletti's Tech Tales: Intel thinks small with Atom chip, but how big is the risk?

Atom could be Intel's little engine that could Commentary: But chip maker's bet on low-cost 'NetBooks' may prove costly By Therese Poletti, MarketWatch SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - At Intel Corp.'s big developer conference this week, the chip giant was extolling the virtues of its newest little chip called the Atom. The Atom has surprised both company executives and analysts with its popularity among hardware makers. The chip was introduced in March and is aimed at an emerging market of very low-cost mobile devices, especially in developing countries. However, for a company like Intel , the world's largest chipmaker with a stake of more than 80% of the personal computer market, the question that comes to mind is how much the Atom could eat into sales of the company's other, more profitable products. Nathan Brookwood, an... [read full story]