TSMC rumored to acquire 20% stake in Intel fabs with Qualcomm and Broadcom chipping in

TSMC is rumored to be working on acquiring a 20% stake in Intel's wafer foundry services division (IFS) with US giants Qualcomm and Broadcom also investing in the deal to help Intel "get out of the trough".

2

In a new report from UDN, we're hearing that the supply chain and foreign media are reporting that the main goal of the Trump administration is to increase Intel's wafer manufacturing capacity through TSMC in order to strengthen "Made in America" from President Trump. The US hopes to see TSMC holding a 20% stake in IFS (Intel Foundry Services) through a technology valuation or an actual cash investment.

Qualcomm and Broadcom would be paying for production capacity from Intel's semiconductor fabs, ensuring smooth production of their high-end chips and Made in the USA, also increasing IFS's capacity utilization. UDN continues, reporting that the companies also plan on taking advantage of President Trump's semiconductor tariffs, leveraging the advantages of American companies as landlords and local manufacturing on US soil.

President Trump said last week: "Taiwan has taken away the U.S. chip business. If it doesn't bring the business back, we will be very unhappy".

Intel has previously said it wants to win orders for Qualcomm's advanced process technology, where Qualcomm would be Intel's new Intel 20A process node customer. Qualcomm and Broadcom joining the investment into Intel Foundry Services will see American companies at the top of the smartphone semiconductor business, preventing the business from being made overseas.

• Read more: TSMC CEO ruled out acquiring Intel's semiconductor fabs back in October 2024
• Read more: US VP JD Vance says Trump admin will ensure AI systems are designed, built, fabbed in the USA

Qualcomm and Broadcom won't be involved in the management of IFS's fabs, but will inject capital into securing production capacity, making sure their own advanced process chip production is unaffected, and Made in America. TSMC taking a 20% stake in IFS is going to surely make things much more interesting, and probably more complicated.

TSMC makes chips for Intel's competitors at its own fabs: AMD, Apple, Qualcomm, NVIDIA, MediaTek are all customers of TSMC and competitors to Intel in some form. TSMC will be a shareholder of its biggest semiconductor competitor -- Intel -- with the seemingly merger between Intel Foundry Services and TSMC Arizona.

In the last weeks, rumors have been swirling about what exactly is happening at Intel... with reports that TSMC declined to rule out acquiring IFS back in Octoebr 2024, with no new commetns made in January 2025... fast-forward to President Trump back in the White House, and boy-oh-boy we've got some big changes coming for the US semiconductor industry.