New Compatibility With Intel Chips Does Little For Microsoft's Stock

• Microsoft Corporation MSFT shares are down 6 percent since December 28.
• JPMorgan’s Rod Hall said that the compatibility of Windows phone with Intel x86 chips did not pose a significant threat.

The Windows 10 mobile operating system is now compatible with x86 chips from Intel Corporation INTC. This is the first version of Windows Phone that can run on x86 chips. Till now, these phones have been running only on ARM chips from QUALCOMM, Inc. QCOM.

“Intel and Microsoft last year joined forces in an effort to get device makers to get Windows 10 to run on Intel’s Atom X3 chips. The current version of Atom X3 is only 3G capable and so far, no handset manufacturer has come out with a Windows phone running on the Atom X3,” analyst Rod Hall wrote.

According to NetworkWorld, faster Atom X3 chips with integrated LTE capabilities are expected to be in handsets in 2016. Hall pointed out that as per Gartner data, Windows accounted for less than 2 percent share of smartphones in Q315. For now, x86 based chips “pose little threat to ARM for mobile devices.”