Intel and Qualcomm may potentially merge their chip businesses

This is pure speculation at the moment, but Qualcomm’s announcement that it’s considering splitting its business to increase shareholder value could result in a deal with Intel. The businesses would be split based on component parts, and the chip business would have plenty of potential suitors, but Intel would be the one that made the most sense. Such a deal would certainly be good for Intel as it would give the company a much-needed boost to its mobile business. 

It could be a match made in heaven. Wall Street says Intel Corp is the best suitor for Qualcomm Inc’s chip unit, if the maker of Snapdragon mobile processors decides to break itself up. “The chip deal to end all chip deals,” says Cowen and Co analyst Timothy Arcuri, would give Intel’s smartphone chip making business a much-needed boost. It would also allow Intel to expand its footprint in the key Chinese market. Other suitors for Qualcomm’s chip business, valued at $30 billion-$40 billion, could include a consortium backed by the Chinese government and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd. Qualcomm said on Wednesday that it was weighing a possible separation of its two businesses, a move prompted by activist shareholder Jana Partners, which had a 1.7 percent stake in the company as of March 31. The maker of computing and communication chips for mobile devices has been losing ground to Asian rivals such as MediaTek Inc, whose cheaper versions have given them an edge in the price-conscious Asian market.