Qualcomm's interest in acquiring Intel has cooled: Report

Qualcomm's interest in acquiring Intel is said to have cooled due to complexities associated with the deal, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The complexities associated with acquiring all of Intel has made a deal less attractive to Qualcomm, Bloomberg reported, saying that it is possible Qualcomm may look at pieces of Intel instead or rekindle its interest later.

The companies did not respond to a request for comment on the Bloomberg report outside regular business hours in the U.S.

Qualcomm had approached Intel to explore a potential acquisition in September, Reuters and others reported. A deal between the companies, which would be the sector's biggest, would face tough antitrust scrutiny globally as it would unite two major chip firms.

Reuters had also reported that Qualcomm explored the possibility of acquiring portions of Intel's design business, days before reports emerged on Qualcomm exploring a deal for all of Intel.

At that time, Intel said that Qualcomm had not approached it about a potential acquisition, while Qualcomm declined to comment.

Intel's woes

Once the dominant force in chipmaking, Intel has in recent years ceded its manufacturing edge to rival TSMC and missed out on the generative artificial intelligence boom after missteps including passing on an investment in ChatGPT-owner OpenAI.

The company lost its spot in the Dow Jones Industrial Average after a 25-year run to Nvidia earlier this month. Intel shares are down over 50 percent this year.

In the past couple of months, the company has also tried to turn its business around by focusing on AI processors and starting a foundry. In addition to this, the company has also put on hold the construction of its factories in Germany and Poland and sell of some of its real-estate holdings.

The company has also announced its plans to cut off around 15 percent of its workforce or around 15,000 jobs by 2025 in a bid to save costs. It is also planning to sell its 150-acre campus in Folsom, which is located in California's Sacramento County, to reduce its operational costs. Intel is also evaluating the fate of its workspace in Oregon amid the recent cost-cutting measures.