What you need to know
- A new report claims Qualcomm has approached Intel about a possible takeover of the company in recent days.
- The report claims a potential buyout or deal is "far from certain" at this stage.
- The news comes as Intel cuts thousands of jobs, recently reporting a $1.6 billion loss.
Qualcomm has approached Intel regarding a potential takeover of the company, according to a new report by The Wall Street Journal published earlier today. A deal is said to be "far from certain," but it seems discussions on the matter are at least on the cards.
A takeover of Intel would be huge news and a sign of just how bad things have become for the x86 giant in recent years. Most recently, the company reported a $1.6 billion loss and announced that it would be laying off over 10,000 employees in a bid to cut costs. The company has also been slow to compete with recent silicon advances from Apple Silicon and Snapdragon X in the mobile space.
Intel has also had issues with recent desktop chips. 13th-Gen and 14th-Gen chips were discovered to be susceptible to permanent damage due to too much voltage being supplied to the CPU, resulting in the company extending the warranty on these chips by two additional years.
Qualcomm has recently entered the PC market with Snapdragon X, which launched earlier this year to high praise after a close partnership with Microsoft, which led to the platform having a Copilot+ PC exclusivity window of around six months. It was the first time Windows on Arm became a truly viable alternative to Windows on Intel and AMD.
Of course, if Qualcomm really is attempting a takeover of Intel, it would need to be approved by regulatory bodies worldwide. NVIDIA attempted to acquire Arm in 2020 for $40 billion, but the move was rejected after significant regulatory challenges. A buyout of Intel would almost certainly face similar struggles.
As noted in the WSJ article:
"A deal is far from certain, the people cautioned. Even if Intel is receptive, a deal of that size is all but certain to attract antitrust scrutiny, though it is also possible it could be seen as an opportunity to strengthen the country’s competitive edge in chips. To get the deal done, Qualcomm could intend to sell assets or parts of Intel to other buyers."
Still, it's interesting to hear that Qualcomm is eager to step into this space. The company is onto a winner with Snapdragon X, and taking over Intel would squash its biggest rival in the Windows space.
