Broadcom and TSMC are the next major parties to come forward to Intel. Broadcom is interested in the chip design division, while TSMC wants to take over Intel’s factories.
The direction Intel will take remains a mystery. Due to the chip giant’s difficult situation, competitors see an outside opportunity to acquire (part of) the company at a bargain price. According to the Wall Street Journal, Broadcom and TSMC have reportedly applied to Intel.
The two parties are not working together and are also interested in other divisions. Broadcom is interested in the chip design division, while TSMC wants to take over Intel’s factories. Exploratory talks are said to be underway.
Unlikely, but not impossible
That TSMC, of all places, wants to take over Intel’s manufacturing arm contains a certain degree of irony. Intel’s current situation is largely the result of its inability to keep up with TSMC in chip production. But it is not impossible: Intel is in the midst of reform and has already divested several divisions. It wants to spin off the chip factories into an independent subsidiary through Intel Foundry.
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TSMC will not be able to simply take over Intel’s factories without approval from Donald Trump and his administration. One of the conditions for awarding an $8 billion grant under the American Chips Act, just now, was that Intel not sell its factories. Intel will not want to let that money go to waste. And if recent history between Broadcom and Trump repeats itself, Broadcom need not hold out too much hope either.
Last year Qualcomm made an attempt to take over Intel, but that quickly backfired. Intel is busy searching for a new CEO after the surprising departure of Pat Gelsinger. What the company will look like when the new CEO starts it, even the current board does not yet know.