Intel, TSMC tentatively agree to form chipmaking joint venture
21 comments
·April 3, 2025pwarner
Parallels to Microsoft investing in Apple in 1997? A little bit maybe? Keep your competitor alive so the antitrust folks don't come down on you?
https://wccftech.com/microsoft-invested-150-million-in-apple...
kelnos
I don't see a parallel here. Neither company is being investigated for anti-trust.
bigyabai
Considering where the TSMC ticker is sitting right now, this evokes more of a "Reichswerke Hermann Göring" vibe from me. This was a closed-door demand to Taiwan with an "offer" they couldn't refuse, likely illustrated using some of the casualties Ukraine suffered during their brief lapse in American assistance. The government of Taiwan is the largest shareholder in TSMC, and Trump knows that he can threaten abandonment if they ever refuse US demands. Predicate weapons sales on administrating Intel fabs, and a stupid pretense can start to sound like a lucrative long-term investment. I wouldn't put it past a president that tried to sell Ukraine weapons they already owned by mining minerals they don't have.
> Keep your competitor alive so the antitrust folks don't come down on you?
It would be deeply ironic of America to attack Europe over antitrust litigation while trying to prosecute TSMC for "monopoly" abuse. Protectionism aside, the American economy stands only to harm itself by forcing TSMC out of the country. That would be like the tech industry cutting off its right arm to spite a pimple on its face.
melling
I submitted a few seconds too late. :-)
This is great news if it’s true.
Intel has so much bad news baked in that its stock is ready for any good news.
rkagerer
Could you elaborate why this is good for Intel?
I understand it brings a short term injection of expertise and capital, but it looks to me like they can't operate their own fabs and a chunk of their manufacturing facilities have just been gobbled up by their competitor.
melling
Intel has several issues but the biggest, IMHO, is that they are trying to reestablish their FAB (chipmaking) business.
TMSC owns the FAB market and even Intel has them make their best chips because they aren’t currently competitive.
Each new FAB costs $15-$20 billion so Intel has some large expenses and they are hemorrhaging money. Many don’t like the uncertainty because Intel might not succeed.
My personal view is that the stock has been beaten down a lot and I’m optimistic they will succeed. They have a new CEO with a lot of industry knowledge.
https://newsroom.intel.com/corporate/intel-appoints-lip-bu-t...
Of course I could be completely wrong and Intel will be broken apart and sold for scraps in a few years. I believe at this price, I’ll still make money in the worst case scenario
nodesocket
Agree, that's why I've been loading up $INTL last couple of months.
hnburnsy
Hope you bought $INTC too.
relwin
they're both about the same price...
nodesocket
lol, oops put the wrong ticker above.
theideaofcoffee
Same, I bought Intel $INTL, and in the same order I scooped up some Amazon in $AZN, but to diversify and not have all of my eggs in one semiconductor basket, I also threw down some dough for a good chunk of AMD (Advanced Micro Devices) in $ADVM. Facebook ($FBK) is another good buy I think, going all in. I like stocks!
pavelstoev
Is this how TSMC relocates to the US?
walterbell
> The Trump administration initiated the Intel-TSMC talks in an effort to revitalize Intel, the report said.
Related to tariffs, or not?
edit: HN ranking history for this thread: https://hnrankings.info/43573980/
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seatac76
I’m sure this was driven by the government as opposed to TSMC volunteering to take this on. Some behind the scenes action made this happen.
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This kind of government-encouraged or mandated joint venture is barely different from what China does. To be quite honest, for stuff like silicon manufacturing, it's probably a good idea.