Intel and Google have been building a platform that enables smartwatch makers to build products with far less effort than they would need were they doing it from scratch. (The Fossil Group‘s smartwatch efforts owe a lot to the Intel/Google platform.) But Intel rival Qualcomm is now getting into the platform game, too.
At this week’s Baselworld watch show, Qualcomm, a leader in mobile chips, announced a partnership with the Chinese hardware company inWatch and Borqs, a large “platform solutions” company specializing in Android-based devices. The platform, based on the Qualcomm SnapDragon Wear 2100 and the inWatch Wear4G hardware, is designed to be incorporated into OEM devices. The companies say the platform would let a watch producer bring a product to market within a single financial quarter.
Intel and Qualcomm are fierce rivals in the mobile processor business. Intel, which dominates the desktop computer business, has had limited success against Qualcomm in the mobile chip arena. Both companies see wearables and the Internet of Things as critical to their future success.