Honestly, on May 9th, something big happened in the world of tech. Intel, the American chip manufacturer, saw its stock price skyrocket, reaching a high of $130.57 per share, a whopping 19% increase. By the end of the trading day, Intel’s stock had risen by 13.96%, closing at $124.92 per share, with the company’s market value surpassing $600 billion, a new record.
Since April, Intel’s stock price has been on a tear, more than tripling in value, and the company has risen to 19th place in the global rankings of publicly traded companies by market value.
So, what’s behind this sudden surge? Well, according to reports, Apple and Intel have reached a preliminary agreement, with Intel set to produce chips for Apple devices. Sources close to the matter say that the two companies have been in intense negotiations for over a year, and a formal agreement was finalized in recent months. It’s not yet clear which Apple products will use Intel’s chips.
This partnership, if it comes to fruition, will be a major boost for Apple’s supply chain, providing a key alternative to its current manufacturing partners. For Intel, it’s a huge win, providing a major client for its foundry business.
Apple sells over 200 million iPhones every year, not to mention millions of iPads and Macs. Any changes to its supply chain can have a significant impact on production and market expectations.
As you may recall, Apple has been looking to diversify its supply chain, seeking alternatives to TSMC, its current manufacturing partner. In recent earnings calls, Apple CEO Tim Cook has mentioned the challenges of securing advanced process node chips. Cook has also noted that the Mac Mini and higher-end Mac Studio models, which have been in short supply due to the “lobster” shortage, may take several months to reach supply-demand balance.
It’s worth noting that Intel and Apple have a long history together. Since 2005, Apple’s Mac computers have used Intel’s x86 architecture CPUs. However, with Intel’s struggles to move beyond 10nm process nodes, Apple turned to TSMC to produce its own M1 chips in 2021, eventually phasing out Intel’s CPUs from its Mac product line.
For Apple, partnering with Intel again has another potential benefit: as AI chip demand surges, Apple is no longer TSMC’s largest customer, and has reportedly lost its “priority shipping” status.
Intel has had opportunities to produce chips for Apple’s iPhones and iPads in the past, but has missed out. This time, it seems Intel has learned from its mistakes.
Over the past decade, Intel has faced significant challenges, including strategic missteps and leadership changes, which have allowed TSMC and Samsung to pull ahead in the chip manufacturing space. However, with the appointment of chip industry veteran Chen Lihwu as CEO in 2025, Intel has undergone significant changes, and its product lineup now appears to be competitive with its rivals.
Intel’s two main business lines cover chip design and manufacturing. In recent months, the company has launched a series of CPUs based on its 18A (1.8nm) process node, and plans to challenge TSMC and Samsung with its 14A process node in the next two years.
If the partnership with Apple comes to fruition, Intel will have achieved its goal of partnering with the three major tech giants, and it will be a major win for Chen Lihwu.
Interestingly, the US federal government, which is Intel’s largest single shareholder, may have played a key role in facilitating this deal. Sources say that US President Trump personally recommended Intel to Cook during a White House meeting.
Last August, Intel reached an agreement with the US federal government, which invested $8.9 billion in Intel’s common stock at $20.47 per share, equivalent to 4.333 billion shares, or 9.9% of the company’s outstanding shares.
US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick announced the deal on social media, and has since met with Cook, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk to promote business partnerships with Intel.
Last September, NVIDIA and Intel announced a partnership, with NVIDIA investing $5 billion in Intel’s common stock. The two companies will collaborate on the development of x86 architecture RTX system-on-chip (SoC) products for personal computers.
In December, Intel announced that it had completed the sale of $5 billion worth of common stock to NVIDIA, issuing 214,776,632 shares, equivalent to 4.91% of Intel’s outstanding shares, at $23.28 per share. After the transaction, NVIDIA became Intel’s fourth-largest shareholder, after the US government, BlackRock, and Vanguard.
This April, Intel announced that it would join Musk’s Terafab superchip factory project, which will use Intel’s 14A process node to manufacture AI chips. The project will be located in Austin, Texas, and will invest $200-250 billion to build two advanced chip factories, with the goal of producing 1 terawatt of computing power per year, and providing specialized chips for Tesla’s autonomous driving system, Cybercab, and Optimus robots, as well as SpaceX’s orbital AI data centers.
