Chips make the AV world go round. We learned that hard lesson during the pandemic. The idea that we were all waiting on companies to get back online to finish jobs put a spotlight on bottlenecks. Once they were back in production, AV was at the back of that line. Simply put, a chip that is sold to Ford for $1000 USD was more attractive than one sold to an AV over IP company for $50. It was economics.
Doesn’t make it stink any less. Then comes the news that Qualcomm is in the mood to buy Intel. That doesn’t make it a done deal. There will be anti-trust hurdles to overcome. But it should put a slight worry in AV companies who get their chips from Intel.
Qualcomm Gobbles Up Intel
The Wall Street Journal said chip giant Qualcomm has reportedly made a takeover approach to rival Intel, according to sources familiar with the matter. This potential deal, which would be one of the largest and most consequential in recent years, comes as Intel grapples with a significant crisis, having seen its market value plummet by about 60% this year alone. The merger would combine Qualcomm’s dominance in mobile phone chips with Intel’s stronghold in PC and server processors, potentially creating a powerhouse in the increasingly vital AI chip market.
However, the road to a successful merger is filled with challenges. Antitrust scrutiny is all but certain for a deal of this magnitude, though it could potentially be viewed as an opportunity to bolster the U.S.’s competitive edge in the global chip market. Intel, once the world’s most valuable chip company, has been struggling under a years-long turnaround effort led by CEO Pat Gelsinger. The company recently announced plans for massive layoffs, dividend suspensions, and a strategic reorganization of its chip-manufacturing and design operations. As the tech world watches with bated breath, this potential merger could signal a seismic shift in the semiconductor landscape, with far-reaching implications for everything from smartphones to artificial intelligence.
Make More Chips
All of this is bad news for those of us in the AV industry. Intel is a major supplier of chips for your favorite products. Everything from UC systems to AV over IP products have Intel chips in them.
If Qualcomm gets the buyout they will look to cut unprofitable, or minimally profitable, deals. If Intel remains independent, they will still look to cut costs. Either way, it looks like AV manufacturers need to take some ownership of the chips that make all our wonderful things.
That means developing their own chips. This is not some far-out idea. Both HDBaseT and SDVoE develop their own. Almost thirty years ago Extron ran into this exact issue. So, they developed their own for a popular video process at the time.
Crafting Solutions
Yes, it takes both time and resources. But it will keep our products moving and insulate the industry, and your projects, from the whims of a third-party who doesn’t really have a stake in the game. Maybe we could create a consortium of like-minded manufacturers who need chips to make the AV things AV. They could work together, build a factory, and then all be partners in the venture. However they choose to solve it, this chip issue is up again. And we need to figure something out.
Tim Albright is the founder of AVNation and is the driving force behind the AVNation network. He carries the InfoComm CTS, a B.S. from Greenville College and is pursuing an M.S. in Mass Communications from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. When not steering the AVNation ship, Tim has spent his career designing systems for churches both large and small, Fortune 500 companies, and education facilities.
