From a mobile OEM's perspective (excepting Apple and Samsung, who have the capability to produce their own SoCs), besides arch there's very little difference be

From a mobile OEM's perspective (excepting Apple and Samsung, who have the capability to produce their own SoCs), besides arch there's very little difference between Intel and other SoC vendors. Snapdragon, Tegra, and OMAP all leave about as much room for customization as Medfield (the mobile Atom variant) does. Qualcomm actually goes a step further than most and packs the modem into the SoC itself. This is partially why you see so many international phones using a different SoC end up swapping for a Snapdragon in the US. Qualcomm was heavily involved in the LTE spec, ensuring they had a head start on modems vs. the rest. Thus when American carriers demand LTE (or DC-HSPA in T-Mobile's case), it's then easier for OEMs to use a Qualcomm part vs. wait on a competitor's part to be approved and be late to market.