1. They are not that much more powerful. Apple A10 is pretty close. It is Faster then a Macbook Air CPU in Geekbench 4 test ( This is version 4, much better then the Version 3 which Linus rant about) with less Power envelop and node behind Intel. While it is not fair to compare Apple which doesn't sell their chip, Qualcomm's Kryo 200 and ARM A73 should be pretty close to A10.

Basically I dont see how Intel's x86 Core is any more complex, and expensive to manufacture. Especially when you consider these cost of design are now spread out over three years or more.

3. That is even worst, and why specifically said Desktop processors at $100, they make little numbers of Atom, but they made LOTS of Xeon which is even higher Margins. ( They dominate the Server market with 90%+ market share )

2/ 4. These process, R&D, process optimization, materials science are all cover by their cost to TSMC / Samsung. Btw TSMC's 2016 Capex ( including R&D ) is now equal to Intel $9.5B. When you consider TSMC is Pure Play and Intel being IDM, this is very significant mile stone.