ARM DEAL
Intel Foundry Services announced a partnership with ARM this week that will allow Intel's upcoming 18A chip to be customized with ARM designs. This deal will make it possible for ARM licensees to use Intel's Foundry Services to make their chips. Slowly but surely Intel is building up a nice client list for their Foundry division.
TOWER SEMICONDUCTOR DEAL
Intel's deal to buy Tower Semiconductor for $5.4B has stalled because the merger needs approval from Chinese regulators. According to the WSJ, if a company generates more than $117M from China, they need China to approve their mergers. Some people are concerned about the viability of the Tower deal because they believe China is using their ability to approve mergers as leverage against the United States. In the US CHIPS ACT, companies receiving money from the bill cannot expand certain of their investments in China. The Chinese might be using their merger approval powers to extract concessions from companies.
At one point, Intel believed the deal would close in the 1st Quarter of 2023. Now they are saying the 1st half. Let's see.
1ST QUARTER RESULTS
Intel will announce their 1st Quarter results on April 27th. The results will likely be bad. According to the Semiconductor Industry Association, global semiconductor sales for February 2023 was $39.7B, which is 20.7% less than in February 2022. Intel will not be immune from this drop in global demand.
Although the company is not at their destination, I am happy with the direction they are moving in. They are building out their Foundry Services, developing their technologies, and optimizing the company's infrastructure.
I once heard the motivational speaker Eric Thomas say "Our success is in our routine." If we can develop a great daily routine, our success will inevitably follow. I believe Intel's Management Team is getting the company back to a successful routine that will make them effective and efficient.
See you next week, God willing.
Stay blessed.
“All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ.”
Ephesians 1:3 NLT
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