British microchip designer Arm Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:ARM) has made a failed bid for ailing Intel Corp (NASDAQ:INTC, ETR:INL)’s product division, according to a Bloomberg report citing “a person with direct knowledge of the matter”.
Arm, which is majority owned by Japanese conglomerate SoftBank, was reportedly told that the business is not up for sale.
The unconfirmed attempt would have seen Arm take control of Intel’s home PC business but not its semiconductor manufacturing business.
The latter, which is in the process of being spun off into a separate subsidiary, has become a financial burden for Intel despite billions of dollars of government grants under the CHIPS Act.
Qualcomm Inc (NASDAQ:QCOM, ETR:QCI) is also rumoured to be weighing up a partial acquisition of Intel, including its PC business.
Intel is facing declining profitability and large-scale workforce reductions as it struggles to compete against larger competitors TSMC and Samsung.
Its share price has been slash in half in the past year and is currently trading at the same price as it was in 1997, when it was the leading light in Silicon Valley.