Intel is rumored to be looking for a new business opportunity that seems positively counter-intuitive—providing Apple with foundry services for the ARM-based chips that go into iPhones, iPads and iPods.
That's what Piper Jaffray analyst Gus Richard thinks, at least.
''Based on a number of inputs, we believe Intel is also vying for Apple's foundry business," Richard said, according to an EE Times report published this week.
''It makes strategic sense for both companies. The combination of Apple's growing demand and market share in smart phones and tablets gives Intel a position in these markets and drives the logic volume Intel needs to stay ahead in manufacturing," the Piper Jaffray analyst said.
But aside from turning some excess manufacturing capacity into extra revenue, such a move by Intel would seem to work against the chip maker's long-term strategy of getting its x86-based processors and chipsets into the small mobile devices currently dominated by makers of ARM chips.
Perhaps, but Intel may be motivated to partner with Apple to counter an even greater mutual threat, according to the analyst. Samsung, under contract to make Apple's current-generation A5 chips for its iOS devices, is "a significant competitive threat to both companies," Richard said.
The analyst also points out that there is not a lot of love lost between Apple and Samsung these days. The two companies have been trading lawsuits for several months over wireless networking patents and mobile device designs.
Richard said Apple was likely to first turn to the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) for its foundry needs should it break ties with Samsung down the road, but that Intel might be waiting in the wings.
Intel already supplies Apple with x86 chips for desktops and notebooks. The company sees itself as the steward of the x86 architecture it originated, though it has proven willing to design and manufacture non-x86 chips like its Itanium processors for high-end servers and HPC systems.
PCmag
