Photo = Yonhap news

 

[Alpha Biz= Paul Lee] Struggling U.S. semiconductor giant Intel has reached a tentative agreement with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the world’s largest chip foundry, to establish a joint venture, according to a report by tech media outlet The Information on April 3 (local time).

 

Sources say that the management teams of both Intel and TSMC have recently come to a preliminary agreement to create a joint venture that will oversee the operation of Intel’s foundry division.


The sources also noted that the White House and the U.S. Department of Commerce have been pressuring Intel and TSMC to collaborate as a way to address Intel’s prolonged business difficulties.


In the new joint venture, TSMC is expected to hold a 20% stake, while Intel and other unnamed U.S. semiconductor companies will share the remaining equity. While Reuters previously reported that TSMC had proposed investment opportunities to companies like NVIDIA, AMD, and Broadcom, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang denied the report, stating that he had “not received any invitations.”


According to The Information, TSMC is in talks to share some of its manufacturing technologies with Intel in return for its 20% stake in the joint venture.


This tentative deal marks what is being seen as the first significant achievement toward Intel's turnaround strategy under its new CEO, Lip-Bu Tan, who took office last month. During the “Intel Vision” conference held on March 31 in Las Vegas, Tan announced plans to separate non-core assets from the company’s main business.


However, some within Intel are concerned that the agreement could lead to large-scale restructuring and further erode the company’s standing in chip manufacturing technology.


Following news of the tentative joint venture, Intel shares rose by 2.05% to close at $22.43 on the New York Stock Exchange. The rebound came after Intel stock had previously dipped sharply, along with other major tech and semiconductor stocks, in response to tariff-related remarks by former President Donald Trump.

 

 

 

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