Intel reportedly rebuffed an offer from ARM to buy its product unit

Intel’s fortunes have declined so quickly over the previous yr that chip designer ARM made a “excessive degree inquiry” about shopping for its crown jewel product unit, Bloomberg reported. Nevertheless, Intel stated the division wasn’t on the market and turned down the supply, in accordance with an unnamed insider.

There are two primary models inside Intel, the product group that sells PC, server and networking chips and a chip manufacturing foundry. ARM had no real interest in Intel’s foundry division, in accordance with Bloomberg‘s sources. ARM and Intel representatives declined to remark.

Intel’s fortunes have been on the wane for years, however the decline over the past 12 months has been particularly dramatic. Following a web $1.6 billion loss in Q2 2024, the corporate introduced that it was shedding 15,000 workers as a part of a $10 billion value discount plan. Final week, the corporate additionally revealed plans to rework its ailing foundry enterprise into an impartial subsidiary. Intel misplaced half its market worth final yr and is now price $102.3 billion.

ARM sells its processor designs to Qualcomm, Apple and different producers (principally for cell phones) however does not construct any chips itself. Buying Intel’s product division would utterly rework its enterprise mannequin, although that situation appears extremely inconceivable.

With Intel wounded for the time being, rivals have been circling. Qualcomm additionally expressed curiosity in taking up Intel just lately, in accordance with a report from final week. Any mergers associated to ARM and Qualcomm could be regulatory nightmares, however the truth that the gives exist in any respect reveals Intel’s vulnerability.

Intel has different avenues to spice up funding. Apollo International Administration (the proprietor of Yahoo and Engadget) has supplied to take a position as a lot as $5 billion within the firm, in accordance with a current Bloomberg report. Intel additionally plans to promote a part of its stake in chip-maker Altera to personal fairness traders.