Intel’s upcoming “Bay Trail” Atom processor is aimed at the low-end market, and promises to deliver convertible PCs and notebooks with all-day battery life at budget prices, the company said on Wednesday.

“We think this is going to significantly expand the volume of Intel architecture-based systems, both for Windows 8 and alternative operating systems,” said Kirk Skaugen, general manager for Intel’s PC client group.

Previously, Intel had said its Bay Trail Atom chip was meant for tablets. Now Intel expects convertible and detachable PCs, along with desktops, will also use the processor, Skaugen said at Intel’s annual IDF event in Beijing. He expects such products to cost under US$599.

The new chip line is Intel’s successor to its previous mobile processor, codenamed “Clover Trail.” The Bay Trail chips, however, use an entirely new microarchitecture meant to bring gains in power efficiency and processing speeds. In addition, the new chips will allow for fan-less designs, and can contain up to four cores. Products built with Bay Trail will launch by the end of this year.

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