In 1999, Intel made its first foray into the handset chip market with the acquisition of Israel-based DSP Communications. Then-CEO Craig Barratt’s announcement that he was turning the firm into a “communications powerhouse” was a highlight of his growth plan, one year into his tenure at the top. Two CEOs and three mobile architectures later, Brian Krzanich also put mobility at the heart of his strategy when he took the reins in 2013. But three years on, he is pulling out of a smartphone processor sector which has defeated his company too many times. Intel, of course, is currently struggling with the decline of the PC on which it built its modern power. The smartphone was meant to be the…