--- title: "Intel Foundry Secures Key Endorsement: Industrial Shift Behind Apple's Order" type: "News" locale: "en" url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/285812145.md" description: "Apple may end TSMC's exclusive foundry status. Reports indicate that Apple and Intel have reached a preliminary agreement on chip foundry services. This is a strategic move by Apple to alleviate AI capacity anxiety, and serves as the strongest endorsement for Intel Foundry's comeback. The competitive landscape of global advanced process nodes is undergoing a historic reshaping" datetime: "2026-05-09T12:02:47.000Z" locales: - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/285812145.md) - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/285812145.md) - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/285812145.md) --- # Intel Foundry Secures Key Endorsement: Industrial Shift Behind Apple's Order A potential chip foundry agreement between Apple and Intel is reshaping the competitive landscape of the global semiconductor industry. This is not only the strongest signal that Intel Foundry is emerging from its difficulties, but also marks the potential end of Apple's long-standing reliance on TSMC as its sole supplier. According to The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, negotiations between the two parties have lasted over a year, and a preliminary agreement was recently reached for Intel to produce some chips for Apple devices. Following the news, Intel's stock price surged nearly 14% in a single day, while Apple's stock rose about 2%. Both companies declined to comment. The significance of this deal to the market far exceeds that of an ordinary supply contract. Intel's stock has risen more than 200% this year, and if Apple brings in Intel as a second supplier, it will directly change the allocation logic of global advanced process capacity and put potential pressure on TSMC's market position. ## Intel Foundry: From Skepticism to Endorsement Intel Foundry has long been mired in difficulties. For years, the business has been plagued by production delays and low yields, leading to widespread skepticism about its ability to handle third-party orders. Currently, Intel Foundry's main customer remains Intel itself, producing processors and other chips for its own devices, with very few external clients. In an interview, Ben Bajarin, a chip analyst at Creative Strategies, stated that this situation is changing. "They have passed the most difficult phase and can now be seen as a proven, reliable second source." He explicitly stated, "I am 100% confident this deal will happen, though I am uncertain about the timing." Intel is currently accelerating the production ramp-up of a new fab in Chandler, Arizona, using its most advanced 18A process node. This node is positioned to compete with TSMC's 2nm node, which is currently produced only in Taiwan. ## Apple's Strategic Considerations: Capacity Bottlenecks Drive Diversification For Apple, this shift is driven by practical realities. All of Apple's most advanced chips are currently manufactured exclusively by TSMC, making Apple TSMC's second-largest customer, after NVIDIA. However, with the explosive growth in demand for AI chips, TSMC's wafer capacity is approaching saturation. "Intel is the only viable option for expanding capacity as a second source," said Ben Bajarin. Notably, Apple may be cautious in its choice of process nodes. Ben Bajarin pointed out that Apple is more likely to wait for Intel's next-generation node, 18A-P, which could reach mass production scale as early as next year. He described the current 18A node as "still somewhat rough," while 18A-P "solves many problems." Additionally, according to CNBC, Apple executives have visited Samsung's new fab under construction in Texas. Currently, Samsung, Intel, and TSMC are the only three companies globally capable of producing the most advanced AI chips, yet "none are building fast enough," Ben Bajarin stated. ## TSMC: Subtle Shifts in the Competitive Landscape The potential collaboration between Apple and Intel does not mean TSMC will be immediately harmed. Ben Bajarin believes this deal will not directly impact TSMC, "because they are already printing wafers at full capacity." However, TSMC's attitude has shown subtle changes. TSMC President and CEO C.C. Wei referred to Intel as a "strong competitor" last month—a phrasing that drew attention in the industry. Ben Bajarin interpreted this by saying, "If one of your biggest customers is about to sign with a competitor, you would probably say something like this to soften the blow." TSMC has also laid out multiple new fabs in Arizona, and Apple has committed to producing some chips locally there, so the cooperative relationship between the two parties will not be shaken in the short term. ## The Broader Picture for Intel Foundry If the Apple order materializes, it will become the most significant external client endorsement for Intel Foundry to date, but this is just part of Intel Foundry's strategic layout. In the advanced packaging business, Intel already has major clients such as Amazon and Cisco. This business bonds separate chip dies with memory to produce products like graphics processing units. In logic chip foundry services, another important external client commitment for Intel comes from Elon Musk. Last month, Musk stated that he plans to use Intel's future 14A node for his Terafab project in Austin, Texas, valued at $119 billion, to produce chips for Tesla, SpaceX, and SpaceXAI. Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan stated in February this year that the 14A node will enter mass production in 2029. This means that substantive external client revenue for Intel Foundry in the logic chip sector will not materialize until 2029 or later. If the Apple order can be realized earlier, it will significantly compress this time window, providing earlier and more direct market validation for the commercial credibility of Intel Foundry. ### Related Stocks - [04335.HK](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/04335.HK.md) - [INTC.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/INTC.US.md) - [AAPL.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/AAPL.US.md) - [INTW.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/INTW.US.md) - [AAPU.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/AAPU.US.md) - [AAPB.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/AAPB.US.md) - [AAPX.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/AAPX.US.md) - [AAPD.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/AAPD.US.md) - [AAPY.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/AAPY.US.md) - [APLY.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/APLY.US.md) ## Related News & Research - [Intel could be moving closer to an Apple partnership—and its stock is racing higher](https://longbridge.com/en/news/285763445.md) - ["We Talk to Intel All The Time," Intel Stock (NASDAQ:INTC) Blasts Up With New Apple Agreement](https://longbridge.com/en/news/285765325.md) - [Intel Clears Antitrust Hurdle For SambaNova Deal](https://longbridge.com/en/news/285078654.md) - [Dara Capital US Inc. Makes New Investment in Apple Inc. $AAPL](https://longbridge.com/en/news/284987452.md) - ["Continued Success": Top Investor Expects More Gains from Surging Intel Stock](https://longbridge.com/en/news/285252198.md)