I doubt they can apply more hardware design engineering talent that the whole ARM ecosystem can; they certainly haven't as of the last time I checked (which was

I doubt they can apply more hardware design engineering talent that the whole ARM ecosystem can; they certainly haven't as of the last time I checked (which was a while ago). I also doubt the "beat them once" thesis. In general, to get "everyone" to switch you need a 10X superiority over the competition, and I seriously doubt that's in the cards. The ARM ecosystem is also extraordinary rich, and I can't see how Intel could replicate it. Finally, I seriously doubt the big players, some of whom have their own chip designs, and at least in the case of Samsung manufacture them, would be happy to move from the ARM ecosystem to an Intel monoculture where they'd be at Intel's mercy forever after.