Intel Corp. has reached out to Apple Inc. about a potential investment, part of the struggling chipmaker’s broader effort to secure financial backing and strategic partnerships as it attempts to regain its footing.
Talks between the technology giants are in the early stages, and could extend to opportunities for closer collaboration though specifics of such partnerships remain unclear, Bloomberg reported.
A potential deal with the iPhone maker would follow a $5 billion investment last week by NVIDIA Corp., which plans to work with Intel on chips for personal computers and data centers. SoftBank Group, the Japanese tech giant seeking to expand further in the U.S., announced a $2 billion investment in Intel last month.
It doesn’t stop there: Intel also has reached out to other companies about possible investments and partnerships, according to the report.
A deal with Apple, a longtime Intel customer that switched to in-house processors in the past five years, would represent further validation of the chipmaker’s turnaround bid. Still, it’s unlikely Apple would switch back to Intel processors in its devices. The iPhone maker’s most sophisticated chips are now produced by partner Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.
A representative for Intel declined to comment. An Apple spokesperson didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan is attempting a comeback with the backing of the federal government. In an unconventional deal brokered by the Trump administration in August, the U.S. acquired a roughly 10% stake in the chipmaker for about $8.9 billion. Intel is seen as a critical piece of efforts to reinvigorate domestic production by the White House.
Even with financial backing, Intel’s challenges are daunting. The company has lost its long-held technological edge and ceded market share to rivals such as Advanced Micro Devices Inc. Moreover, Intel has struggled to capitalize on booming sales of artificial intelligence (AI) while NVIDIA and others have flourished, forcing Intel to lay off workers and delay factory expansion plans as its sales deteriorated.
Still, investors have grown more optimistic about its prospects since the government infusion. The stock is up more than 60% since the beginning of August.
Under former CEO Pat Gelsinger, Intel set out to become a chip foundry — a business that makes semiconductors for outside clients. But the company has struggled to secure enough customers to support its factory expansion plans. Intel has continued to pursue the foundry strategy under Tan, though more cautiously. In July, he said Intel would only roll out a new cutting-edge production technique called 14A if customers committed to it.
Apple and Intel have a long, sometimes strained, history. Apple used Intel chips in its Macs for years but began shifting away from the supplier in 2020 as part of a broader effort to use more in-house components.
These days, Apple has sought to show that it’s investing heavily in the U.S. At a White House event in August, the company announced plans to spend $600 billion on domestic initiatives over a four-year period, up from a previous pledge of $500 billion. The centerpiece of the expansion was a $2.5 billion investment in Corning Inc., Apple’s longtime glass supplier.
Apple CEO Tim Cook told CNBC’s Jim Cramer that the investments would encourage other companies to add domestic production, creating a “domino effect.”
When asked about Intel, he said that competition would be good for the chip foundry industry. “We’d love to see Intel come back,” Cook said.
