TechInsights, a company that describes itself as an information platform for the semiconductor industry, has published new projections that suggest 40% of the world’s notebooks will be powered by Arm CPUs, rather than x86 processors, by 2029. The projections come as Intel and AMD announced the formation of an x86 ecosystem advisory group today, one that is meant to, among other things, identify “new ways to expand the x86 ecosystem by enabling compatibility across platforms.” The unlikely collaboration has prompted some to comment that hell has frozen over.
The advisory group aims to unite industry leaders to shape the future of x86 and foster developer innovation through a more unified set of instructions and architectural interfaces. This initiative will enhance compatibility, predictability and consistency across x86 product offerings. To achieve this, the group will solicit technical input from the x86 hardware and software communities on essential functions and features. Collaboration will facilitate the creation of consistent and compatible implementations of key x86 architectural features and programming models, extending across all sectors – including data centers, cloud, client, edge and embedded devices – ultimately delivering downstream benefits to customers.