Intel has hired Amir Faintuch, a senior executive at rival Qualcomm, to step up efforts in mobile and Internet-connected gadgets. Faintuch previously oversaw Qualcomm's networking and connectivity businesses as president of Qualcomm Atheros. He is joining Intel as a senior vice president and co-general manager of the Platform Engineering Group, Intel spokesman Chuck Mulloy said on Friday.

Faintuch brings experience designing "system on chips," or SoCs, which combine features like modems, Wi-Fi and memory.

While Intel excels at developing processors for laptops and desktop computers, it has less experience designing SoCs, which are widely used in smartphones and tablets.