Intel's new breed horse 'Atom' to race with experienced ARM's 'Cortex'

The name Intel and ARM itself are so strategic and has immense effect in their meanings. Both companies possess incomparable wisdom in semiconductor technologies. Both are developing the silicon brains (processor). Let's stop here explaining the similarities and get into the differences.

One makes high performance processor chips (X86) comparable to racecars. Doesn't much bother about fuel consumption, just make them cruise at very high speeds and cost is not major issue just produce the required power. Are they producing more heat? just put a fan over them, need even more processing power; stack them with quad core or even more. Continuously rise the engine power by packing more work-horses (transistors). However at some level there is attempt to make these work horses to consume less food.

The other one, designs smart, cute, and small, but powerful processors (Cortex) and extremely stingy in using number of workhorses (again transistors) comparable to today's hybrid or such new generation fuel efficient vehicles. The workhorses are intelligently tied to each other to derive maximum power. They only design. The maker of these devices can buy the design and can make his own product. Both designer as well as maker shares the profit.

The first might have thought, the market second trying to address is small and is already has lot of players (Freescale, Renesas, TI etc..).

But the markets changed, Windows vista not succeeded as expected. PC sales dropped
There is a new expected demand for low cost netbooks or such mass selling handhelds.

The world's largest semiconductor company Intel Corp. is now targeting low power small size hand held computer device market with launch of Atom processor. It's also tying up with another fab TSMC to make these devices.

The strategy is close to what ARM Holding was using all these years.

As a result of all these, Intel has two competitors, AMD and ARM. If we look at the combined strength of Intel and TSMC v/s AMD and ARM, AMD and ARM have more complementing capabilities than Intel and TSMC.

In this odd time of worst semiconductor market, these kind of strategic moves may change world semiconductor and electronics market dynamics significantly.
ARM is well established in low power embedded processor market. But Intel with its history of successful strategies, the result is very hard to predict. It's going to be a close neck-to-neck race.
Only time can answer the question of who's going to win this new race between these two brilliant companies.

It looks like ARM has more partners and Intel has more money and talent.