Intel announced what many considered a "blow-out" quarter, with sales up 20% and net income nearly doubling.

Imagine what they could do without one hand tied behind their back. (The image is from a 1995 paper on Internet payment systems by Michael Pierce of Trinity College, in Ireland.)

In Intel's case, the hand behind its back is communications. Intel dominates basic computing, although its lead in servers is shaky enough that it needs promotions. But in the chips that run cell phones, or routers, or any device based on communications, Intel is an also-ran.

They're an also-ran, I submit, because they fail to do in these areas what they do in PCs. They fail to create platforms. They're chasing others, rather than asserting leadership.

Now, I've talked until I'm blue over how Intel can do this, and you know the answer. The answer is Always-On. There is a huge application space, starting in wireless LANs, that needs to be defined before it can be built. And Intel is just the company to define it, because defining platforms is what the company is all about.

But until it does this, it's just another chip supplier, at least in those markets that require communications.

Which only makes its recent performance more remarkable.