Intel has previously promised its processors will visibly lower tablet prices

Dec 9, 2013 07:58 GMT  ·  By

Intel has some pretty ambitious plans for 2014, designed to extend its reach on the tablet market as much as possible.

The processor manufacturer has even started pushing its chips to cheap Chinese white box vendors in an attempt to boost sales.

Sources familiar with Taiwan’s tablet supply chain reported by DigiTimes claim that the chip maker is gearing up for 2014 to offer a whole host of new processors. So Intel will launch Bay Trail models (Z3735D series) to be implemented in 7-inch entry-level Android tablets in Q1.

These slates will sell for super affordable prices between $99 / €72 and $129 / €94. Intel is also targeting the 8-inch sector, with models expecting to bear price tags between $149 / €109 and $199 / €145.

Intel has already launched Bay Trail-T processors compatible with Windows 8/8.1 slates this year, so Android tablets are the next logical step.

As for larger slates, Intel is prepping the Cherry Trail platform. The chips should be ready for launch by September 2014. Cherry Trail is an atom range based on the 14nm manufacturing process and bundle next-generation graphics, plus Airmont CPU cores.

Intel plans to implement these chips in 32- and 64-bit Windows 8/8.1 and Android slates with screens between 8-inch and 10-inch. Prices for such devices are expected to start at $249 / €182.

Q4 2014 will also see the unveiling of the Willow Trail chips based on 14nm Goldmond architecture. These chips are said to support Windows 8 and Android slates.

Intel is targeting the smartphone market in the year to come, by bringing out the 22-nm based Merrifield and Moorefield platforms in Q1 and Q3 of 2014, respectively. Note that the chip giant claims the two architectures can be implemented within Android tablets, as well.

It appears that the 2014 will continue another lofty year for Android tablet development, with tech giants like Samsung also working on multiple slate models supporting the OS.