Intel reportedly asking ex-flame Apple to invest • The Register

After a painful breakup and a bout of economic turmoil, Intel is seeking to rekindle the connection with its previous flame Apple.

The x86 big reportedly hopes to persuade Cupertino to turn into an investor, unnamed sources instructed Bloomberg.

The talks come amid a flurry of latest funding in Intel, which kicked off in August when Japanese funding financial institution SoftBank sank $2 billion into the ailing chipmaker.

Lower than per week later, the Trump administration was shaking down Intel for roughly $11 billion value of inventory choices, equal to 10 p.c of the corporate, in alternate for $8.9 billion in CHIPS Act funding Washington had already awarded.

Then final week, Nvidia joined in on the enjoyable, asserting plans to plow $5 billion into Intel shares. As a part of the deal, the 2 firms fashioned a co-development initiative that may see Nvidia prolong its GPU empire by integrating its graphics tech into Intel CPUs. Intel in the meantime secured a spot for its Xeon processors in Nvidia’s future rack methods.

The advantage of these offers is pretty simple. SoftBank will get to do what it at all times does and gamble on the chipmaker’s success, home chip manufacturing is central to American nationwide safety coverage, and Nvidia will get to place its GPUs in Intel-powered thin-and-light notebooks.

Apple’s motivation for investing Intel aren’t as apparent. Since transitioning to its homegrown M-series silicon in late 2020, Apple has gone from key Intel accomplice to direct competitor. A lot of Intel’s current merchandise haven’t been stellar, main it to lose market share throughout the server and PC markets in recent times. It’s due to this fact onerous to see CEO Tim Cook dinner giving up on Apple Silicon any time quickly.

However quite than promoting CPUs to Apple, Intel could also be extra all in favour of manufacturing Apple’s subsequent homegrown chip.

Greater than 4 years after Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger revealed the corporate would open its fab to contract manufacturing, it has but to discover a hero buyer.

However with American firms below intense stress from the White Home to on-shore manufacturing, Intel may supply Apple an alternative choice to its present provider Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC).

The one drawback is that TSMC has already crammed that want – earlier this 12 months it started manufacturing chips for Apple and Nvidia at its fabs exterior Phoenix, Arizona. (In case you forgot, Nvidia’s $5 billion funding in Intel would not embody chip manufacturing both.)

With that stated, Apple’s success depends on its potential to handle provide chains. The chance to diversify chip manufacturing sources for the long-term could also be enticing sufficient to justify an funding in Intel now.

Apple has already provided the Trump administration its pound of flesh. In February, Apple stated it could invest $500 billion and rent 20,000 employees over the following 4 years in America to develop its US footprint.

In accordance with the report, Intel’s talks with Apple are nonetheless within the early phases, and there’s no assure the iGiant will assist to finance Chipzilla’s rehab.

Intel declined to remark and we have but to listen to again from Apple. ®