Quick overview

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Intel made direct contact with Apple for a minority investment, aiming to leverage the iPhone manufacturer’s substantial financial resources and longstanding relationships. Apple was Intel’s largest client before 2020, when it switched from using its chips to in-house designs. Although sources stress that there is no immediate plan to switch back to Intel silicon for Apple devices, the discussions, which are still in their early stages, also look at deeper collaboration, such as cooperative R&D or supply chain synergies.

 

Apple CEO Tim Cook publicly voiced optimism about Intel’s resurgence, saying, “We’d love to see Intel come back,” pointing to the advantages of US-based competition in the chip market. Similar to recent agreements, an Apple stake could be between $2 and $5 billion. This would indicate strong industry support and help Intel finance its ambitious 18A process node rollout by 2026.

Intel has been losing market share for years due to a combination of Apple’s shift to custom silicon and AMD’s aggressive pricing and innovation. In desktops and laptops, Intel’s CPU dominance has decreased to about 60–65 percent worldwide by 2025 (down from over 80 percent ten years ago). In the server and mobile space, the situation is even worse—Nvidia has taken the lead in AI accelerators, and ARM-based chips, such as Apple’s M-series, are eroding traditional x86 territory.

Revenue growth has stalled, and Q2 2025 earnings showed a mere 1% year-over-year increase to $12.09 billion, which is significantly lower than that of competitors. The current state of decline has forced Lip-Bu Tan, Intel’s new CEO, who succeeded Pat Gelsinger in early 2025, to take daring and unorthodox steps to finance a turnaround centered on AI chips and foundry expansion.

Uncle Sam’s involvement is what really changed the game, highlighting Intel’s role in reshoring tech manufacturing and national security. The US government paid roughly $10 billion for a roughly 10% stake in Intel in an unprecedented August 2025 deal mediated by the Trump administration. The deal was presented as a “strategic investment” rather than a bailout