The Wall Street Journal says US chip giant Qualcomm has approached Intel, another major US chipmaker, about a possible takeover.
Citing people familiar with the matter, the US paper said on Saturday that Qualcomm made the approach in recent days. Intel, a design and contract manufacturer, has been suffering from slumping business.
The Wall Street Journal said a deal for Intel, which is valued at around 93 billion dollars, would be “one of the largest and most consequential” in recent years.
But the sources reportedly said a takeover is far from certain and that even if Intel is receptive, a deal of that size is almost certain to attract antitrust scrutiny.
Competition has been intensifying with such rivals as Taiwan’s TSMC, which specializes in contract manufacturing, and Nvidia, the world leader in chip production for generative AI.
As part of its restructuring plans, Intel on Monday announced it will spin off its contract chipmaking business into a subsidiary to make it easier to procure funds.
Qualcomm is the world’s biggest designer of semiconductors for smartphones. It has been aiming to expand into chip production for personal computers, where Intel remains the dominant player.