intel

the question is if intel should keep x86 to itself 

while amd got it's own x86 clone 

and risk that the x86 market stagnates and shrinks 

or if intel should license x86 to other companies 

which could grow the x86 market 

especially since intel seems reluctant to take risks 

and intel seems to have made some strategic mistakes 

if intel would open source x86 

then intel could loose control of the x86 market 

but if intel licenses x86 to other companies 

then intel would have more control of the x86 market 

but the question arises about the legal issues 

of intel licensing out x86 to other companies 

since amd sells their own x86 chips 

the company arm licences their arm to other companies 

and that makes arm a lot of money 

but intel could license x86 to other companies 

not primarily to make more money 

but instead to prevent the x86 market from shrinking 

and it could possibly grow the x86 market 

the main beneficiaries of intel licensing out x86 

could be chinese companies 

that would be able to sell cheap and weak x86 chips 

both in china and globally 

and that would not compete too much with intel and amd sales 

since intel and amd sells expensive and powerful chips 

cheap and weak x86 chips could be used in mobile devices 

such as gaming handhelds and possibly tablets 

but probably not mobile phones 

since the mobile phone market is dominated by arm 

cheap and weak x86 chips could be used in every device 

that needs some type of embedded processor 

such as the iot market 

but x86 chips are generally power hungry since they are usually powerful 

but cheap and weak x86 chips made in china 

could be more power efficient because weak chips use less power 

the iot market will probably be dominated by arm and risc 

but cheap and weak x86 could be a player in the iot market 

and the advantage for intel 

is that intel factories produce intel x86 chips 

but intel factories could also produce arm chips 

for other companies with arm licenses 

and intel factories could also produce risc chips 

for companies with open source risc licenses 

and intel factories could also produce x86 chips 

for companies with x86 licenses 

so no matter whether the x86 market grows, shrinks or disappears 

intel factories could still produce arm, risc or other types of chips 

intel will probably be profitable 

for as long as intel research and development 

is able to develop technology 

to industrially produce 

smaller and smaller transistors