Intel sees its future in shift to cloud computing

Intel's next horizon is cloud computing, CEO Brian Krzanich announced today in a blog post. The blog outlines the company's future course and its research and development efforts.

Krzanich described a "virtuous cycle" of future product offerings bound by Moore's Law, the idea that the number of transistors in a circuit will double approximately every two years.

Krzanich sees Intel's products of the future revolve around data centres and the cloud, while PCs and the other devices comprising the internet of things would all beam their data to and from to the cloud.

So would memory modules and field-programmable gate arrays, the chips used in medical imaging, computer vision, and speech recognition devices.

All those devices would connect to the cloud using 5G networks, for which Intel was already at work creating a new generation of mobile chips, base stations, and other infrastructure.

"Threading all of this virtuous cycle together is connectivity – the fact that providing computing power to a device and connecting it to the cloud makes it more valuable," Krzanich wrote.

Describing Moore's law as "fundamentally a law of economics'' Kraznich said Intel would confidently continue to harness its value.

Intel, which holds a dominating position in chips used in the data centres that delivered cloud services, would increasingly focus on technologies for analysing data to help reinforce and expand its position, he said.

According to Krzanich, Intel's strong position in data centers was a linchpin for much of the other efforts.

For instance in addressing another priority known as the Internet of Things - Silicon Valley shorthand for adding calculating and communications capability to just about everything that was not a computer, Intel's market position would be determined by its ability to process the data generated by products such as connected lightbulbs, doorlocks and office and factory equipment.

''The key phrase here is 'connected to the cloud,'''  Krzanich wrote. ''It means that everything that a 'thing' does can be captured as a piece of data, measured real-time, and is accessible from anywhere.''