Qualcomm Recently, I approached a struggling semiconductor manufacturer. Intel CNBC confirmed the acquisition.
It is unclear whether Intel has held talks with Qualcomm or what the terms of those talks would be, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified because the information is confidential.
The Wall Street Journal was the first Report Intel shares initially surged but then fell to near Friday’s closing price.
If the deal goes through, it would be the largest technology merger in history, valuing Intel at more than $90 billion.
Once the world’s largest chipmaker, Intel has been in a years-long downward spiral that accelerated in 2024. Its shares suffered their biggest one-day drop in the past 50 years in August after the company reported disappointing earnings. Intel shares have fallen 53% this year as investors expressed doubts about the company’s costly chip-making and design plans.
Qualcomm and Intel compete in several markets, including chips for PCs and laptops, but unlike Intel, Qualcomm does not manufacture its own chips, instead outsourcing production to companies such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) and Samsung.
Intel Chief Executive Patrick Gelsinger sent a memo to employees on Monday after a board meeting to discuss strategy, reiterating the company’s commitment to investing heavily in its foundry business, which could cost $100 billion over the next five years, and said the company was also considering outside investment.
Intel has also missed out on the artificial intelligence boom that has captured Wall Street’s attention: Most advanced AI programs such as ChatGPT run on Nvidia’s graphics processors rather than Intel’s central processors, and analysts say Nvidia has more than 80% of the fast-growing market.
Qualcomm has less revenue than Intel, reporting fiscal 2023 revenue of $35.8 billion compared to Intel’s $54.2 billion in the same period.
Any potential deal would be complicated by antitrust and national security concerns. Both Intel and Qualcomm have operations in China and both have had deals derailed by Chinese antitrust enforcement agencies in the past. Intel failed in its bid to buy Tower Semiconductor, and Qualcomm also failed in its attempt to buy NXP Semiconductor.
Other big acquisitions in the sector have fallen through. Broadcom The company tried to buy Qualcomm for more than $100 billion. The Trump administration blocked the deal the following year over national security concerns because Broadcom was based in Singapore at the time. Then in 2021, the FTC filed a lawsuit to block Nvidia’s acquisition of Arm on antitrust grounds. After further pressure from regulators in Europe and Asia, the deal was halted in 2022.
Representatives for Qualcomm and Intel declined to comment.
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