Intel CEO Explains the ‘Competitive Fun’ Between Apple, Expresses Desire to Repair Relationship

Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger sat down for an interview with Yahoo Finance and discussed the company’s current relationship with Apple. Although a divide was established when Apple made the decision to transition away from using Intel processors, Gelsinger remains hopeful that the two companies can work together in the future.

In early 2020, Apple made the announcement that it would be transitioning from Intel’s x86 chips in order to introduce its own silicon into its devices. Flash forward to the fall, consumers were introduced to Apple’s M1 chip. Apple also declared that over two years, Apple’s entire Mac lineup would be moving away from Intel.

When speaking to Yahoo Finance, Gelsinger said:

“So obviously you’ve seen some of the competitive energies [in chipmaking] resume because there’s a lot of great innovation to be done, and we haven’t seen PC demand at this level for a decade and a half. The world needs more of that, and there is competitive fun going on with Apple and the Mac ecosystem.”

Gelsinger’s use of calling the current landscape “competitive fun” is an interesting choice of words. In the past month, Intel launched two ad campaigns targetting Apple and its M1 chip. In one ad, Intel highlights the shortcoming of the M1 devices when it came to working as a gamging device. On the other, Intel hired Justin Long, formerly seen on Apple ads, to compare device uses of Apple’s Mac products version Windows counterparts.

However, Gelsinger and Intel hope to continue having a relationship with Apple in the future. This week, the company made the announcement that it would be opening two new factories in Arizona for the purpose of developing chips for other companies. Gelsinger added:

“Apple is a customer, and I hope to make them a big foundry customer because today they’re wholly dependent on Taiwan Semiconductor. We want to present great options for them to leverage our foundry services, as well, just like we’re working with Qualcomm and Microsoft to leverage our foundry. We’re going to be delivering great technology, some things that can’t be done anywhere else in the world.”

Intel has invested $20 billion into its new factories in order to provide outsourcing solutions to third-party foundries.