YOU ARE AT:WirelessIntel could get a slice of Apple's business

Intel could get a slice of Apple’s business

Intel CEO Paul Otellini says the world’s largest semiconductor company could one day count Apple and even Qualcomm among its customers. Unlike most chip designers, Intel (INTC) owns its own manufacturing facilities, so it has the ability to make chips for its competitors as well as for itself. Otellini said his company could consider even its biggest rivals as potential customers, if the contracts made sense.

Otellini said that it might be easier for him personally to supply Apple than Qualcomm. Qualcomm has a dominance in the mobile semiconductor space that approaches that of Intel in the PC semiconductor market, and now the San Diego company appears to be gunning for Intel in the PC market. Intel, meanwhile, is hard at work to establish its chips for smartphones and tablets. The first smartphone powered by an Intel microprocessor goes on sale in India next week.

Intel’s first quarter earnings were off 13% from a year ago, but still ahead of analysts’ expectations. The company’s ownership of its own foundries could be a major advantage in the months ahead, as Qualcomm and AMD both said this week that the foundries that make their chips are facing capacity shortages.

Follow me on Twitter.

ABOUT AUTHOR

Martha DeGrasse
Martha DeGrassehttp://www.nbreports.com
Martha DeGrasse is the publisher of Network Builder Reports (nbreports.com). At RCR, Martha authored more than 20 in-depth feature reports and more than 2,400 news articles. She also created the Mobile Minute and the 5 Things to Know Today series. Prior to joining RCR Wireless News, Martha produced business and technology news for CNN and Dow Jones in New York and managed the online editorial group at Hoover’s Online before taking a number of years off to be at home when her children were young. Martha is the board president of Austin's Trinity Center and is a member of the Women's Wireless Leadership Forum.