Semiconductor manufacturing companies Intel and Nvidia are set to go head-to-head in a battle to dominate the fast-growing market for high-end Internet-enabled mobile devices. The two companies have identified the market segment as an extension of the PC chip market where both are strong players. In an interview with the Financial Times, Intel CEO Paul Otellini said that the company saw a market worth US$40 billion for its new ‘Atom’ microprocessors over the next two or three years. He forecast that the market for Atom processors in consumer electronic devices such as TVs, low-cost ‘notebook’ mobile PCs, and as embedded processors in a wide range of other products, would be worth about US$10 billion each. The Atom chip represents Intel’s re-entry into the mobile market after it exited the market in 2006 following the sale of its XScale division to Marvell Technology Group.

Meanwhile, Nvidia, which is best known for producing graphics cards for PCs, has unveiled a line of microprocessors called Tegra aimed at what it calls ‘Mobile Internet Devices.’ The company plans to showcase the processors working in notebook computers at this week’s Computex show in Taiwan.