It’s rumored that Qualcomm is in takeover talks with Intel.
The era of AI features on mobile devices is in full swing and soon, we’ll see more of them on smartphones, tablets, and even laptops. This is thanks to the snowballing effect of semiconductor giant Qualcomm.
But according to industry analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo, if Qualcomm acquires Intel, big problems may arise. The Snapdragon chipmaker will certainly gain benefits in the following:
- On-device AI smartphone chipsets.
- On-device AI PC chipsets.
- AI server chipsets.
The first one makes Qualcomm a very strong competitor versus Apple while the second trend will be augmented by Intel’s current market share, giving Qualcomm a large foothold on both smartphone and PC markets. However, the third one isn’t a known strength of Intel.
Not because it’s inapplicable, but AI for servers isn’t here yet. Thus, AI servers are a weakness of Intel, which makes it a limited appeal to Qualcomm.
But let’s check the financial figures. Ming said that Qualcomm has $13 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities, with a market cap of about $190 billion. Intel, on the other hand, has a market cap of $93 billion and that is a massive pressure for the former to carry.
Qualcomm probably sees the issues so the talks may not lead to an acquisition at this time.
In the meantime, know more about Qualcomm’s upcoming Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 for smartphones and its ongoing benchmark battles.
