Qualcomm reportedly wants to buy Intel in a potential takeover that would shake up chip industry

Qualcomm and Intel
Qualcomm reportedly wants to buy Intel in a move that could shake up the computer market. (Image credit: Getty Images | SOPA)

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.

Zac Bowden
Senior Editor

Zac Bowden is a Senior Editor at Windows Central. Bringing you exclusive coverage into the world of Windows on PCs, tablets, phones, and more. Also an avid collector of rare Microsoft prototype devices! Keep in touch on Twitter and Threads

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  • nop
    far from certain being the key words
    Reply
  • FraJa
    Why would they be receptive... (They announced that the Fabs would be put in a separate entity... which for all I know is an administrative move) They are building fabs, they have many already... the one to host the Angström process is done, they need to optimize the industrial process, they have a Networking division for DC, business, but also just Wifi cards you see everywhere. They have AI accelerators for a while, developed the Arc in no time, so it was ready for the AI era, and for other users, the Arc are also very affordable... and thus they have also GPUs for DCs. They have the Xeon, that maybe should be evoked once or twice... They are impressive... still have the FPGA business.,and much more...
    This article, (from the competition, but I hope Mr Apple isn't around) https://www.tomshardware.com/news/inside-intel-packaging-factory explain what is a CPU factory... and how very different it is tto manufacture chips, than it is to "order a soc from California" or from San-Diego for Qualcomm (but they design the whole chip, but the ram - same for everyone, as well Bluetooth or 5G only or specific chips, more similar to what NVidia did or still do (beside the GPU)).
    This link to: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/newsroom/news/updates-intel-10-largest-construction-projects.html#gs.f2b97yI can't see another industry as complex, requiring so much investments, and research years in advance, then such gigantic "foundries", highly skilled employees, and 4554 steps (made up) for building such small thing as a cpu (which is a much smaller item than the "package" which is plugged in the motherboard...) ... and also the SOC of the AI laptops is more a "good surprise" than anything else... and they weren't really promoted in advance... they had said they would do it like that (presentation of the architectture), they did, and it worked as expected :)
    Reply