Piper Jaffray semiconductor analyst Gus Richard in a note to clients — as reported by “Barron’s (http://macte.ch/Mr0bx)– says that since “Intel has no market share in the next wave of computing,” the company should consider becoming the foundry to manufacture the custom microprocessors that Apple designs into its iPhones, iPods and iPads.
Intel needs volume to fill its fabs to keep on track with the rising cost of “Moore’s Law,” the exponential increase in chip complexity, writes Richard. It can’t overcome Apple’s, and Google’s, commanding lead in smartphones, so it must strike a bargain, the analyst adds.
“We believe Apple is shifting away from Samsung,” writes Richard, citing efforts by the company to get memory chips from Elpida, Toshiba, and Micron Technology (MU), and what may be a foundry arrangement with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM) staring in the fourth quarter of 2011.