Texas Instruments getting ready to shift away from the smartphone chip business

Texas Instruments, possibly better known by most for their calculators than their smartphone chips, looks to be shifting away from the business of providing systems on a chip for smartphones and tablets. Some of the bigger names in processors, like Qualcomm and Samsung, have really run away with the top-of-the-line chip business, which has put TI in a tough position. Looking into the future, TI plans to move its focus from smartphones to hopefully more profitable areas such as the industrial and automobile sectors. Executives at the company indicate that they know the growth and profits may not be as strong as the smartphone arena, but should provide better stability in the long run.

Its really unfortunate to see TI move away from smartphones, as its chips have powered some of the best devices on the market, most recently the Samsung Galaxy Nexus and range of Kindle Fires. Instead of the next generation OMAP 5 platform competing for placement in tomorrow's smartphones, we may be looking at a market almost completely dominated by Qualcomm and Samsung chips.

Source: Reuters

Andrew Martonik

Andrew was an Executive Editor, U.S. at Android Central between 2012 and 2020.