????如果把你的智能手機拆開瞧瞧，你很可能會發現，里面的芯片并不是英特爾（Intel）牌的，而是ARM牌的。ARM控股（ARM Holdings）是一家英國的芯片設計商，總部位于英國劍橋，該公司現在已經統治了移動設備市場。光是上個季度，就有11億個ARM的節能微處理器被安裝在了手機和平板電腦里。但是它的雄心壯志卻并不僅限于此。最近幾個月，ARM正在在制訂進軍個人電腦和服務器市場的計劃。

????與此同時，芯片大佬英特爾卻反其道行之，加緊在快速增長的移動市場上攻城掠地。英特爾是全球最大的芯片制造商，也是個人電腦和服務器市場的霸主，但它的處理器卻一直未能打入移動設備市場。不過最近，英特爾成功拿下了幾款平板電腦處理器的業務，可謂小有斬獲。另外英特爾還表示，一款安裝了英特爾Medfiled處理器的手機將在今年年底前面世。

????英特爾和ARM狹路相逢，拼殺已久。現在兩家公司都以攻為守，在對方領土上的爭奪也將逐步加劇。明年，安裝了英特爾芯片的平板電腦和智能手機將對移動市場發起總攻，而ARM的處理器也將殺入筆記本電腦市場【微軟（Microsoft）即將推出Windows 8系統，屆時一些運行Windows 8的筆記本將安裝ARM的芯片】。也就是說，就在英特爾進軍一個大熱的全新領域的同時，ARM正在揮師進攻一個傳統陣地。當然，任何一家公司要想打破對方在該市場上的壟斷，都不是一件容易的事。

????英特爾正在努力研發一款用于智能手機和平板電腦的低能耗微處理器。倒是ARM的高管率先承認，英特爾的進逼的確令他們感到擔心。ARM市場部執行副總裁伊恩?德魯曾在英特爾公司任職14年之久，他坦言道：“永遠不能低估英特爾。我在英特爾干了很多年，深知英特爾是一家卓越的制造企業。”

????除了卓越的制造能力之外，無論是從人力資源，還是從收益上看，英特爾的規模都讓ARM相形見絀。不過ARM的業務模式決定了該公司并不需要把自己打造成一個市值百十億美元的商業帝國。和英特爾不同的是，ARM自己是不生產芯片的，而是把自己的芯片技術授權給高通（Qualcomm）、德州儀器（Texas Instruments）和英偉達（Nvida）這種公司來生產。一臺設備如果安裝了ARM的芯片，ARM就會收取一定的版權費用。

????瑞銀（UBS）分析師烏切?奧爾吉指出：“ARM有很好的架構，后勁很足；英特爾則有卓越的制造能力。現在很難說這兩家公司究竟誰能在競爭中勝出。這個謎底至少在四五年之內恐怕還難以揭曉。”

????與此同時，業界紛紛推測，這兩家公司各自會攫取哪些細分市場。市場研究公司IHS iSuppli最近表示，該公司預計到2015年，全球22.9%的新出廠筆記本將安裝ARM的處理器。

????在長期看來，英特爾和ARM的競爭對于消費性電子廠商，乃至對于對消費者來說，都是個利好消息。何以見得？因為芯片制造商的競爭升溫，最終將拉低芯片價格。不過現在我們還無法預知哪家公司最終將贏得這場競爭。

????瑞銀分析師奧爾吉稱：“我認為他們各自會在一個有限的范圍內獲得成功。我預計明年會出現安裝了ARM芯片的電腦，同時市面上也會出現安裝了英特爾芯片的移動設備。”

????譯者：樸成奎

????Crack open your smartphone, and chances are there's ARM—not Intel—inside. The British chip designer commands the mobile market. Last quarter alone, 1.1 billion of its power-efficient microprocessors were shipped in phones and tablets. But Cambridge-based ARM Holdings (ARMH) has bigger ambitions. In recent months, it has been talking up plans to get its chip designs into PCs and servers as well.

????Meanwhile, Intel's (INTC) been ramping up its efforts at penetrating the fast-growing mobile market. The world's largest chipmaker owns the PC and server markets, but has failed to get its processors into smaller mobile devices. Recently, though, Intel scored several (albeit small) tablet wins. And it has said a phone powered by its Medfield processor will be unveiled by end of this year.

????The two companies have long been on a collision course, but their battle for each other's territory is about to heat up. By next year, Intel-running tablets and phones will have finally hit the market and ARM-based processors will have made their way into notebook computers (like those running Microsoft's (MSFT) upcoming Windows 8). That will leave Intel breaking into a hot new sector just as ARM begins cracking open an old-line market.Of course, neither company is going to have an easy time taking on the other's monopoly.

????Intel has struggled to get a low-power processor into smartphones and tablets, but ARM executives are the first to admit they are worried about the encroaching competition. "You never discount Intel," says Ian Drew, executive VP of marketing at ARM and a 14-year Intel veteran. "I've worked there long enough to know that they are a supreme manufacturing company."

????In addition to superior manufacturing capabilities, Intel's size—whether measured in manpower or revenues—dwarfs ARM's. Then again, ARM's business model doesn't require building multi-billion-dollar fabs. Unlike Intel, ARM doesn't actually manufacture chips. Instead, it licenses its technology to companies like Qualcomm (QCOM), Texas Instruments (TXN) and Nvidia (NVDA) and collects royalties on every device shipped with its architecture.

????"ARM has great architecture and a lot of momentum behind them and Intel has superior manufacturing," says UBS analyst Uche Orji. "Calling this one will be tough—the answer to this riddle won't be clear until at least four to five years."

????In the meantime, predictions of who will grab what portion of market share are running rampant. Research firm IHS iSuppli recently said it projects that by 2015, 22.9% of notebook shipments worldwide will be ARM-based systems.

????In the long run, the rivalry could be good news for consumer electronics manufacturers—and possibly even for consumers. Why? Because increasing competition among chip suppliers could eventually drive down prices. But it's not clear either company will end up "winning" this match.

????"I think they will both be successful to a limited extent," says UBS's Orji. "I expect to see some ARM PCs next year, and I also expect to see some Intel handsets in the market next year."