A few weeks ago Intel approached Apple seeking investment. At the time, I likened this to the time when Microsoft invested in Apple, acquiring 7% of the company in exchange for dropping some patent disputes and promising to develop Microsoft Office for the Mac for at least five years. Now, it looks like something similar is happening with Apple and Intel.
There’s no word on whether Apple has invested directly in Intel but there is a new partnership looming. Supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says a deal has been struck between the two tech behemoths.
The Apple-Intel deal is a significant win-win for both companies.
- Intel will be making the low-end M-series chips for Apple at its US-based chip foundries. This gives Intel a valuable new customer and proves its foundry technology is suitable for modern chip platforms.
- Apple gets to tell the US government, which is strongly promoting its “Made in America” agenda, that high-end tech manufacturing is happening. This will help Apple with any potential tariff discussions and keep it in the good graces of a fickle American president.
As the deal is for entry level chips, Apple’s relationship with TSMC is not at risk.
Intel placed its faith in a market that it thought would never abandon its lucrative x86 architecture. But the market shifted substantially over recent years. The shift to RISC-based processors in mobile devices made Intel look like Kodak when film was overtaken by digital photography.
The importance of GPUs in cryptography and AI applications further weakened Intel. And then Apple ditched Intel and developed its own chips for almost every major component.
Both Apple and Intel win in this arrangement. Apple gets to appease the American government and Intel has a new customer for its US-based manufacturing.
Anthony is the founder of Australian Apple News. He is a long-time Apple user and former editor of Australian Macworld. He has contributed to many technology magazines and newspapers as well as appearing regularly on radio and occasionally on TV.