Qualcomm approaches Intel for potential takeover: WSJ reports

Qualcomm’s market value is around $188 billion so it’s still unclear how it will bid for Intel which has a value of around $122 billion

Tech Desk - Sep 21, 2024

An undated image of Qualcomm. — Depositphotos

On September 20 (Friday), The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that Qualcomm has recently approached Intel, which hinted towards Qualcomm’s takeover of Intel. If the news turns out to be true, then it would be a colossal coup for Qualcomm and certainly represent a historic fall for an invaluable chip company all across the globe, which is significantly based on its x86 processor technology that prevailed over Qualcomm’s Arm chips outside of the phone's storage.

The New York Times confirmed the report and stated that “Qualcomm has not yet made an official offer for Intel.”

Qualcomm’s market value is around $188 billion so it’s still unclear how it will bid for Intel which has a value of around $122 billion.

These cutting-edge processors are an outcome of years of Intel’s efforts. The company has already invested hundreds of billions of dollars over the decade in the fabrication process and hired thousands of experts for it.

Meanwhile, Qualcomm is inexperienced in operating a chip factory, or fab and utilises other technology provided by Arm Holdings.

Intel is currently in the weakest position for years, however; other Intel businesses are nourishing and generating lucrative profits, but the company recently corroborated a few cuts, shifts in strategy, and a 15-plus per cent reduction of its workforce in August after experiencing a huge loss of $1.6 billion.

Intel Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Pat Gelsinger stated that the company would prevent all the excessive work and has since confirmed that it will spin off the chip-making businesses. A part of the company had been marketed as a differentiator against the competitor AMD and the multiple fabless chip manufacturers who depend on companies such as Taiwan's Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) to generate all of their real silicon.

Several Intel’s woes are regarding the silicon leadership, instead of only manufacturing and generating profits, the company had an unsatisfactory performance in artificial intelligence (AI) server chips yet Nvidia stays ahead in the competition.