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Though you may have not heard much about the Intel XScale processor, it is very commonly used in mobile devices and formerly made Intel the largest supplier of processors for 3G devices and new-age smartphones. I say formerly, because Intel is now selling their entire XScale line for $600 Million to Marvell who are commonly known for making other chipsets for wireless and ethernet devices.

After about five months of review, it will be a 3-year process for Marvell to actually acquire that division of Intel fully. With all changes of this nature, likely many people will find themselves out of jobs, but Marvell has stated that the majority of the 1400 Intel employees working for XScale will stay on and become Marvell employees. Will this affect the XScale line in the long run? Probably not to a significant margin, and likely the user will never notice a difference. XScale is expected to increase in popularity as a mobile processor, and Intel even has reserved an option to invest a substantial amount of money into Marvell in the future.