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Qualcomm has talked to Intel about making an acquisition bid, according to sources.
Contacts speaking to The Wall Street Journal claim Qualcomm has recently approached Intel about a buyout.
A purchase is “far from certain,” the insiders caution. Neither company has confirmed the report. We’ve asked both companies for comment and will let you know if we hear back.
If such a move happens, though, it would transform the chip industry. Qualcomm would dominate both ARM- and x86-based consumer chip manufacturing, and would have access to Intel’s know-how in areas like AI, CPU architecture, and foundries.
It would also illustrate how far Intel has fallen from its previous heights. Intel once had a firm grip on the PC industry, with companies like AMD and Cyrix struggling to grab meaningful market share. Apple partners like IBM and Motorola also didn’t keep up, prompting a switch to Intel chips for Macs that lasted until 2020.
AMD has enjoyed a resurgence thanks to its Ryzen lineup, and now holds an edge over Intel in areas like battery life and performance. Intel was also unable to last in the smartphone space, and reportedly lost out on the PlayStation 6.
Crucially, the rise of ARM-based computer chips like Apple’s M series or Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X has cast doubt on Intel’s ability to deliver high-performance CPUs that still allow for long battery life. Core Ultra Series 2 has closed some of the gap, but not all of it.
A Qualcomm acquisition of Intel still faces challenges even if it moves ahead. Regulators are likely to be concerned that Qualcomm would have unfair dominance over computing that squeezes out AMD. The company will need to get approval from multiple countries, and that’s not guaranteed.
