Intel Eyes Apple Inv…
Multi-billion dollar cash injections from NVIDIA, Japanese tech giant (and Arm owner) Softbank, and even the United States federal government haven’t stopped Intel from seeing suitors willing to stuff more money into its pockets. According to a report from Bloomberg, Intel apparently approached none other than Apple about securing an investment.
On the face of it, this seems insane, particularly if you think of Intel as primarily a chipmaker. Apple abandoned Intel chips years ago, and just ten days ago released the final software updates for those machines. The company’s home-grown ‘Apple Silicon’ processors are perfectly competitive with the best from Intel and AMD in the use-cases for which they’re intended; Apple has no reason to have any interest in any of Intel’s chip offerings.
It’s not chips that Apple might take an interest in, though. By all accounts, Intel’s 18A process is at least competitive with TSMC’s N2 in terms of performance, while perhaps lagging behind slightly in density and possibly yields. Intel has some of the most (if not THE most) advanced chip packaging in the world; if 14A is a credible upgrade on 18A, it could be a truly compelling option for new chips from Apple, who has historically been more or less beholden to TSMC to have its chips made.
Apple CEO Tim Cook is keenly aware of this, a fact he revealed when he spoke to Jim Cramer on CNBC’s Squawk Box last week. Responding to a rambling question from the characteristically motor-mouthed Cramer, Cook said that he would “love to see Intel come back” because “competition is very good for the foundry business.” Qualcomm’s CEO Cristiano Amon made similar remarks recently, too.
In other words, Intel offering a competitive foundry product would allow Apple to play them against TSMC, which is the reality—even if Apple doesn’t ultimately go with Intel for manufacturing, if Intel is credible competition, Apple can use that for leverage against TSMC, or for insurance against a potential move on Taiwan by China.
Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan is a savvy businessman who obviously sees all of this playing out, which is likely why Intel is trying to pull Apple into an investment early, well before Intel’s 14A is ready for external customers. Apple is more likely to actually make use of Intel’s services if it has money in Intel’s business, because ultimately that benefits Apple too, by increasing Intel’s value.
Notably, Apple is eager to be on the federal government’s good side to avoid or blunt anti-trust meddling. Apple announced plans in August to spend as much as $600 billion US dollars on domestic investments over a four-year period, including a $2.5 billion investment into Corning, who supplies the glass for Apple’s devices. The reported and still-hypothetical Intel investment would likely be a highly visible move to placate the Trump administration, which is watching the American tech industry like a hawk as the specter of China’s home-grown chips rises.
