The naming of Renduchintala will obviously add to speculation floating on the Street that Intel is making an extra-special effort to get business form Apple (AAPL) for forthcoming iPhones.
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In an intriguing turn of affairs, Intel (INTC) a short while ago announced that Venkata “Murthy” Renduchintala, a luminary at Qualcomm (QCOM) in chips, has been hired by Intel to run the company’s newly created division for “Client and Internet of Things (IoT) Businesses and Systems Architecture Group”.
In reference to Renduchintala’s appointment as Intel’s President of Client and Internet of Things (IoT) businesses and Systems Architecture Group, Intel said that, under Renduchintala’s guidance, the company plans to align product design, engineering, and business direction, so that the company’s strategy is tightened and the execution across the communications, device, and IoT segments can be stepped up.
Renduchintala was co-president of Qualcomm’s QCT (Qualcomm CDMA Technologies) unit, which is responsible for semiconductors. Acting soon enough, Intel INTC has picked him up, giving him a new executive position.
Brian Krzanich, Intel CEO, said: “The caliber of leadership and experience Murthy brings to our executive team represents a significant move toward delivering the benefits of our strategy even faster than before”. He also brings expertise to Intel from his long career in the system-on-chip (SoC), mobile and IoT areas.
While at Qualcomm, Renduchintala headed up the development of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon mobile chips, which power most of the high-end Android smartphones on the market today.
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The news of Renduchintala’s appointment follows rumours earlier this year that Qualcomm would merge with Intel following a glut of problems, including the dumping of 15 percent of its workforce – about 4,500 staff. Murthy was offered another role within Qualcomm, but he chose to leave the company instead. A day earlier, Qualcomm named his colleague, Cristiano R. Amon, as head of its chip division.
