The man actually gives some advice, in a very roundabout way

Mar 23, 2013 12:05 GMT  ·  By

Rivals seldom help each other, but then there come times when they identify themselves with that rivalry so much that they want to maintain it. And that sometimes means that one has to help the other stay in the game.

It isn't completely clear that this is what is happening here. After all, while hector Ruiz did serve as AMD's chief executive officer at one time, he does so no longer.

Still, even if his words to Intel's current CEO (reported by Bloomberg) are his personal opinion, the world cannot help looking at Ruiz as AMD's former CEO first.

Ruiz, by his own admission, has spent an important part of his career basically fighting Intel's “monopolistic practices.”

Now he's giving the company (Intel that is) some advice, though no one can really say they didn't think about it themselves.

About 10 years ago, Intel could throw its weight around and use its so-called dominance to direct basically every aspect of the computing market. Or at least sway it.

Now it can't anymore, because the mobile electronics industry is taking center stage, and ARM is dominating that facet.

Desktops and laptops don't matter so much anymore, but tablets, phones and even smartwatches are getting lots of media attention.

Ruiz now recommends that Intel make some massive changes to what it does and how. First order of business should be the creation of a low-power, high-volume chip that could be slotted in iPhones, or any other smartphone.

True, the company has tried to achieve something of the sort, but the Atom series of chips has only proved a resounding failure.

Intel should also split up its businesses, Ruiz says, as the mobile segment is too specific in its requirements to be overseen by the same groups that produce Xeon server chips, which makes perfect sense really.