INTERVIEW: Stephen P. Nachtsheim, Vice President and General Manager of Mobile and Handheld Products Group, Intel Corporation

Judith Berck, GSM Data Today, June 9, 1998.

Stephen Nachtsheim is a Corporate Vice President with Intel, and was General Manager of Intel's Mobile and Handheld Products Group through July 1998.

GDT: What is the outlook for the mobile PC market segment?

SPN: If you have glanced at industry sales charts lately, there is no doubt sales of mobile PCs are rapidly moving upward. According to figures released by Dataquest (April 1998), the mobile PC category continues to represent the PC industry’s fastest-growing market segment. At least three factors are converging to fuel this dramatic growth.

First of all, when you combine the latest mobile Pentium® II processors with greatly improved screen displays, graphics capabilities, several gigabyte hard drives, improved batteries and many other features, you have very robust systems that rival high-end desktops. Most of today’s mobile PC users expect desktop PC performance in a mobile platform. Simply put, mobile users do not want inferior capabilities when they are on the road, away from their desks. Introduced in April 1998, the mobile Pentium II processor at 266 MHz meets that expectation. This powerful processor delivers the performance needed to run today’s most sophisticated business software, such as data mining, 3D Web browsing, integrated calendar and mail software, and other client-centric remote applications. It also provides ample headroom needed for "next-generation" 32-bit operating systems, including Windows NT* and Windows 98*.

Secondly, the average price points for notebooks have been dropping, and lower price points are emerging. There’s been a steady reduction in the costs of displays and other components, as well as aggressive pricing of microprocessors by Intel. This has led to a wide array of choices in terms of system price point. You can now purchase a complete mobile PC in a conventional form factor that provides baseline performance for standard business applications at around or under $1,699. Also based on the current low-end Intel processor (today it’s the mobile Pentium processor with MMX technology at 166 MHz or greater), these systems generally include an internal floppy drive, CD-ROM and a standard-size keyboard.

A third factor is the emergence of new mobile PC form factors. One emerging market segment is called the "mini-notebook," a mobile PC equipped with a low-power PentiumÒ processor with MMXÔ technology. Mini-notebook systems weigh-in under three pounds, incorporate a scaled-down keyboard and LCD screen and have external peripherals like a floppy drive or CD-ROM. Fast-moving business executives and other "on-the-go" PC users purchase mini-notebooks primarily for e-mail, Web access and calendar applications. These compact but highly capable systems deliver full PC capability in a range of unique form factors, some as small as a VHS video cassette, and some are becoming available at price points under $1,500.

GDT: Why is wireless communication such an important feature?

SPN: You can’t function in business today without data connectivity. And for a mobile user, the ultimate connectivity is wireless. Mobile users often access their information when travelling via the wire-line infrastructure. But this is sometimes impossible or inconvenient -- think of trying to plug into a wall jack if you’re at a hotel or a customer site and you don’t have the right adapters. If you have wireless communication, you’re not tethered to the wall jack. Your office is wherever you need to be -- whether it’s an airport lounge, a client’s office, a conference center auditorium, or even the front seat of your car. It lets you have data communications anywhere and anytime. Your productivity can only increase.

GDT: Intel started the Mobile Data Initiative in order to advance wireless data computing.  Now that wireless data capability is being implemented on a global scale, is the Mobile Data Initiative needed anymore?

SPN: Yes it is. First, let me give a little background on the Mobile Data Initiative, which Intel started in 1996. Intel worked to bring together companies from the telecommunications and computing industries to provide complete, easy to use solutions for wireless data communications with mobile PCs. Intel has sponsored several "Plug Fests" which brought together hardware and software manufacturers to improve operability and ease of use; Intel with the Mobile Data Initiative has also been working to promote roaming agreements among cellular operators to allow global access to voice and data services. There are now over 50 members in Europe and North America, including cellular operators, network infrastructure providers, computer and software manufacturers, and wireless product providers.

There is, however, still work to be done to create awareness of the benefits of true mobility for the business user. Most people still don’t know they have or how to use the capability to connect their mobile phone to a mobile PC in order to communicate via email or connect to the internet or their office LAN. In addition the infrastructure for wireless data also needs more attention to provide more prevalent data capabilities and higher transmission speeds. So the Mobile Data Initiative remains a very important initiative to facilitate the broader deployment and usage of wireless data services.

GDT: Do handheld personal digital assistants (PDAs) pose a challenge to the mobile PC market segment? 

SPN:  Advances in data communications technology are making it possible for ever smaller phone and organizer devices to offer some data capabilities like short messaging, personal information management, and limited internet and e-mail. I envisage that the mobile industry will evolve towards a two device paradigm -- a hand-held device which people will use for voice communication, personal information management and short messaging, and the mobile PC, which users will want for standard applications like e-mail, internet, and office productivity (presentations, spreadsheets, documents). I believe the mobile PC and handheld device market segments will evolve to complement each other.

© 1998 Intel Corporation. Judith Berck is an employee of Intel corporation.