Intel has rejected British semiconductor firm Arm’s approach to potentially acquire the American chipmaker’s product division, as per a report in Bloomberg News.
According to Intel, the product unit, which sells chips for personal computers, networking equipment, and servers, is not for sale.
The publication, citing undisclosed sources with knowledge of the matter, mentioned that details on the financial aspects of the discussions are not known.
In addition, it is not clear whether the talks are abandoned or are still going on. Arm has also not shown interest in Intel’s manufacturing operations.
Last month, Intel sold its 1.18 million share stake in Arm. Based on the average price of Arm’s stock between April 2024 and June 2024, the sale was reported to have generated about $146.7m for Intel.
The divestment aligns with Intel’s broader restructuring efforts to improve its financial health as well as operational efficiency amid increasing competition in the semiconductor sector.
Intel future looks perilous
In recent years, Intel has been grappling with a series of challenges, including a decline in market share in both consumer and enterprise segments.
The company, which once was a dominant force in the semiconductor industry with its “Intel Inside” marketing campaign, has struggled to sustain its leadership amidst rising competition from companies like Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC).
Intel has been striving to turn its fortunes around by focusing on artificial intelligence (AI) processors and building a chip contract manufacturing business under Intel Foundry. As part of its cost-saving efforts, Intel announced plans to pause factory construction in Poland and Germany and reduce its real estate footprint.
Earlier this month, Reuters reported that Qualcomm had explored a potential deal with Intel to acquire segments of the latter’s chip business. Qualcomm, which is traditionally strong in mobile chips, views this as a key opportunity to diversify its chip portfolio and focus on personal computers and AI.
According to sources cited by the news agency, Qualcomm’s interest primarily lies in Intel’s client PC design business, which develops chips for laptops and desktops. The discussions remain in the early stages, with no formal proposals made, and Qualcomm has shown less interest in other Intel units, such as its server chip design division.
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