Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) has allegedly approached Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) to consider investing in the U.S. chip company following several colossal investments CEO Lip-Bu Tan recently secured for his company, according to Bloomberg.
Apple and Intel have discussed fostering a closer relationship as well, the report said, citing people familiar with the conversations. However, the talks are reportedly in a very early stage and may not materialize into action.
Intel shares jumped 6.4% by the close of market trading on Wednesday.
Tan has helped Intel secure a flurry of massive investments recently. This includes a $2B investment by Japan’s SoftBank (OTCPK:SFTBY)(OTCPK:SFTBF), a 10% stake by the U.S. government and, most recently, GPU giant Nvidia’s (NVDA) $5B investment.
Apple, at one time, was a major customer for Intel. Apple began using Intel microprocessors in its Mac computers back in 2006.
“Our goal is to provide our customers with the best personal computers in the world, and looking ahead Intel has the strongest processor roadmap by far,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO at the time.
However, in 2020, current Apple CEO Tim Cook announced plans to transition from Intel’s x86 architecture to Apple silicon based on ARM (ARM) architecture. By 2023, Apple had completed the transition away from Intel-based Macs.