Intel Corp shares on Thursday gained on a report that the company has tentatively agreed to a joint venture with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), a sign the beleaguered US chipmaker is moving ahead with a plan that has been highly anticipated by investors.
TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, is to take a 20 percent stake in the new company, the report said.
The shares on Thursday climbed more than 2 percent after the Information Web site reported the news, erasing a decline of more than 5 percent earlier in the session. The shares had been up about 10 percent this year through Wednesday, fueled in part by hopes that Intel would pursue such a move.
Photo: Reuters
Executives from both companies reached a preliminary agreement to form a joint venture that would run Intel’s manufacturing plants, the Information reported.
Intel and other US chipmakers would hold the majority of shares in the initiative, which would include at least some of the US company’s factories, said the news site, which cited unnamed people familiar with the situation.
TSMC yesterday said it has “no comment on market rumors” when responding to an inquiry about the matter from the Taipei Times.
Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday downplayed the potential combination between TSMC and Intel when he was asked about whether the TSMC-Intel deal would be one of the nation’s bargaining chips in its negotiations to reduce the 32 percent “reciprocal” tariff imposed on Taiwanese imports to the US.
“The principle is that for any ongoing cooperation or negotiations, we will put the country’s interest first,” Cho said. “As for new speculation or news, we have not received any reports yet.”
United Microelectronics Co (UMC, 聯電), Taiwan’s second-largest contract chipmaker, was reportedly in merger talks with US chipmaker GlobalFoundries Inc in another push by Washington to secure more less-advanced chip capacity in the US.
UMC denied the report.
Bloomberg News in February reported that TSMC and Intel were discussing the idea at the request of the administration of US President Donald Trump. The scenario is meant to help address Intel’s deteriorating financial state, which has forced the company to cut thousands of jobs and curb its expansion plans.
If the plan goes ahead, it would be a dramatic early step for Intel chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武), who took the job last month.
During an appearance at the Intel Vision conference in Las Vegas on Monday, he said the chipmaker would spin off assets that are not central to its mission.
TSMC has already been stepping up its investments in the US. TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) joined Trump at an event last month and pledged to spend an additional US$100 billion on chipmaking plants in the US.
Additional reporting by Lisa Wang
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, booked its first-ever profit from its Arizona subsidiary in the first half of this year, four years after operations began, a company financial statement showed. Wholly owned by TSMC, the Arizona unit contributed NT$4.52 billion (US$150.1 million) in net profit, compared with a loss of NT$4.34 billion a year earlier, the statement showed. The company attributed the turnaround to strong market demand and high factory utilization. The Arizona unit counts Apple Inc, Nvidia Corp and Advanced Micro Devices Inc among its major customers. The firm’s first fab in Arizona began high-volume production
VOTE OF CONFIDENCE: The Japanese company is adding Intel to an investment portfolio that includes artificial intelligence linchpins Nvidia Corp and TSMC Softbank Group Corp agreed to buy US$2 billion of Intel Corp stock, a surprise deal to shore up a struggling US name while boosting its own chip ambitions. The Japanese company, which is adding Intel to an investment portfolio that includes artificial intelligence (AI) linchpins Nvidia Corp and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), is to pay US$23 a share — a small discount to Intel’s last close. Shares of the US chipmaker, which would issue new stock to Softbank, surged more than 5 percent in after-hours trading. Softbank’s stock fell as much as 5.4 percent on Tuesday in Tokyo, its
COLLABORATION: Softbank would supply manufacturing gear to the factory, and a joint venture would make AI data center equipment, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) would operate a US factory owned by Softbank Group Corp, setting up what is in the running to be the first manufacturing site in the Japanese company’s US$500 billion Stargate venture with OpenAI and Oracle Corp. Softbank is acquiring Hon Hai’s electric-vehicle plant in Ohio, but the Taiwanese company would continue to run the complex after turning it into an artificial intelligence (AI) server production plant, Hon Hai chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) said yesterday. Softbank would supply manufacturing gear to the factory, and a joint venture between the two companies would make AI data
The Taiwan Automation Intelligence and Robot Show, which is to be held from Wednesday to Saturday at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, would showcase the latest in artificial intelligence (AI)-driven robotics and automation technologies, the organizer said yesterday. The event would highlight applications in smart manufacturing, as well as information and communications technology, the Taiwan Automation Intelligence and Robotics Association said. More than 1,000 companies are to display innovations in semiconductors, electromechanics, industrial automation and intelligent manufacturing, it said in a news release. Visitors can explore automated guided vehicles, 3D machine vision systems and AI-powered applications at the show, along
RSS