The Week Ending May 31
Topping this week's roundup of companies that came to win is Intel, which demonstrated the capabilities of its new 10th-generation processors this week.
Also making the list were AMD for showing off its 7-nanometer Ryzen and Radeon processors; NXP Semiconductor for a savvy acquisition that will expand its Wi-Fi and connectivity technology portfolio; IoT security developer ReFirm Labs for its ambitious channel plans; and Salesforce for making more of its Lightning development technology available as open-source software.
Not everyone in the IT industry was making smart moves this week, of course. For a rundown of companies that were unfortunate, unsuccessful or just didn't make good decisions, check out this week's Five Companies That Had A Rough Week roundup.
Intel 10th-Gen Core CPUs Bring Big AI Boost To Ultra-Thin Laptops
Intel was demonstrating its technology chops this week when the company debuted its 10th-generation Core mobile processors – the first to use the company's next-generation 10-nanometer manufacturing process technology.
The processors, with new AI and graphical capabilities, are expected to power a wave of high-performance, ultra-thin, power-efficient laptops later this year.
The new processors are a major milestone for Intel, which has relied on the 14nm manufacturing process and iterative improvements for its client and server processors since 2015. The company made the announcement at the Computex conference in Taiwan.
AMD Readies 7nm Ryzen CPUs And Radeon RX GPUs For July Launch
AMD was making some news of its own at Computex, announcing that its 7-nanometer Ryzen 3000 desktop processors and Radeon RX 5700 graphics cards will ship in July, keeping the competitive heat on rival Intel.
The third-generation Ryzen chips will be available July 7. The top-of-the-line Ryzen 9 3900X will feature up to 12 cores and 24 threads.
While AMD debuted its first 7-nanometer GPU late last year, the company is gearing up to sell a wider selection of 7nm graphics cards for desktop systems in July with the new Radeon RX 5700 series.
The company also provided more details around its upcoming 7-nanometer EPYC processors for the data center.
NXP Semiconductors To Buy Marvell's Wi-Fi Business For $1.76 Billion
NXP Semiconductors made a wise acquisition this week that positions the company to be a leading technology supplier for emerging demand in 5G networks, smart city systems and connected devices.
NXP struck a deal to buy Marvell Technology Group's Wi-Fi assets, including its Wi-Fi connectivity and Bluetooth technology portfolios, in an all-cash deal valued at $1.76 billion.
The acquisition will help NXP, one of the largest chip suppliers in the automotive industry, supply a broad range of connectivity infrastructure products in 5G, data center, enterprise and automotive Ethernet applications and offer more IoT connectivity options for customers.
IoT Security Startup ReFirm Labs Looks To Recruit MSSP, VAR Partners
ReFirm Labs wins kudos this week for its plans to enlist the channel to help sell the startup's new platform that helps businesses monitor and validate the firmware security of connected devices.
The company launched a global certified partner program for its Centrifuge Platform, looking to recruit managed security service providers, VARs and systems integrators who want to expand their security practices.
Businesses and organizations are coming to understand the huge threat posed by poorly secured network and IoT devices. ReFirm Labs' technology could be a major opportunity for the channel: The company expects 50 percent of its revenue to come through the channel this year with that number increasing to 80 percent in 2020 and 100 percent after that.
Salesforce: Open Source Lightning UI Components Will Benefit Ecosystem Partners
Salesforce unveiled a plan this week to open source Lightning Web Components, the company's JavaScript framework for building user interfaces, in a move that will benefit Salesforce partners who develop solutions around the company's cloud applications.
Salesforce plans to make more of Lightning's previously proprietary capabilities, including base components, available as open-source tools for developers – even developers building web applications for other cloud platforms. That means more web services that are interoperable with the Salesforce platform.
The move is also expected to benefit partners by increasing the talent pool of available developers from which solution providers can recruit.
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