Rumor: Intel seeks alliance with Samsung

Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger has reached out to Samsung Electronics to discuss forming a foundry alliance, according to a report from Maeil Business News Korea. The rumored move comes as both companies find themselves in hot water while trying to compete with TSMC. The Taiwanese foundry commands a 62 percent market share that has been steadily growing in the past years, while Samsung holds 11 percent, according to Trendforce data published in September. Including only external business, Intel didn’t make the top 10 in that ranking.

Samsung has been part of a semiconductor collaboration before. The Common Platform Alliance at one point in time consisted of twenty companies, including IBM, NXP, Freescale, STMicroelectronics and Globalfoundries. The group co-developed CMOS process technology, allowing designs to be fabbed at different foundries. It fell apart after participants dropped out over the years. Samsung was left on its own when Globalfoundries bowed out of the leading edge in 2018 (link in Dutch), although IBM still conducts semiconductor R&D.