Qualcomm could acquire rival Intel – but securing the deal won't be easy

A tie-up between Qualcomm and its semiconductor rival Intel would be a coup. But multiple regulatory and commercial hurdles lie ahead.

Qualcomm and Intel logos on device screens
(Image credit: NurPhoto / Contributor)

Shares in Intel jumped by 8% last week following reports that chipmaker Qualcomm had approached its struggling rival about a potential takeover, says the Financial Times. A deal is “far from certain” and no formal offer has been made, but a tie-up would eclipse Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of Activision as the biggest technology deal on record. Intel’s share price has halved this year, putting the company on the defensive. 

Such a deal would be a “massive coup” for Qualcomm, which re-entered the desktop processor market this year as a part of Microsoft’s artificial intelligence (AI) PC strategy after “years of dominance in mobile processors”, say Richard Lawler and Sean Hollister in The Verge

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Dr Matthew Partridge
Shares editor, MoneyWeek

Matthew graduated from the University of Durham in 2004; he then gained an MSc, followed by a PhD at the London School of Economics.

He has previously written for a wide range of publications, including the Guardian and the Economist, and also helped to run a newsletter on terrorism. He has spent time at Lehman Brothers, Citigroup and the consultancy Lombard Street Research.

Matthew is the author of Superinvestors: Lessons from the greatest investors in history, published by Harriman House, which has been translated into several languages. His second book, Investing Explained: The Accessible Guide to Building an Investment Portfolio, is published by Kogan Page.

As senior writer, he writes the shares and politics & economics pages, as well as weekly Blowing It and Great Frauds in History columns He also writes a fortnightly reviews page and trading tips, as well as regular cover stories and multi-page investment focus features.

Follow Matthew on Twitter: @DrMatthewPartri