What’s Next for the Once-‘Glorified,’ Now Desperate Intel? Trump’s Opposition, Sluggish Business, and TSMC Acquisition Rumors Make a Comeback Much Harder, But Not Impossible

Intel is witnessing a series of events that are pushing the company back in terms of business and sustainability, and with the US administration opposing the top leadership, it seems like things are getting much harder for Team Blue.

President Trump's Opposition On Intel's CEO Lip-Bu Tan, What's That All About?

When the American President tells a domestic firm to have its leadership changed, this does ring some serious bells, not just for the company itself but also for shareholder confidence. When you trace back the reason behind this opposition, it isn't actually that complex. Just yesterday, Senator Tom Cotton, who is a Republican and has a pretty 'wild' history with the tech world, raised concerns about Intel's CEO Tan, being linked to Chinese entities. Cotton sent a letter to Intel's board of directors, stating that Team Blue's CEO might be a threat to national security.

The next day, President Trump also voiced opposition against Intel's CEO, claiming that he's highly conflicted, which refers to Tan's previous investments in China. It is important to note that in many of the 'tech-related' matters, Senator Tom Cotton has played a role in shaping the Republican narrative, and one of his iconic incidents is when he called out TikTok's CEO Shou Zi Chew as a 'Chinese' despite his clarifications that he is a Singaporean. So, when you look at this, President Trump's opposition has a much deeper background to it.

Interestingly, President Trump has shown appreciation towards a former Intel CEO, Andy Grove, claiming that he was probably the last 'worthy' person in the position. When you look at Grove's history, he was a vocal supporter of American manufacturing, having a famous op-ed called 'How America Can Create Jobs', which focused on companies creating opportunities for the public. This shows that one of the benchmarks to create Trump's appreciation is likely to be being a supporter of the 'Made in America' narrative.

Intel's current position is the most vulnerable because the company has simply failed on PR grounds and has not responded proactively to the claims being made against its decisions and leadership. When you look at the likes of NVIDIA, which pushes dedicated blog posts to deal with rumors, Team Blue comes nowhere near. This is a significant reason why the markets and lawmakers have managed to shape a narrative that goes against Intel for now.

Intel's Chip Ambitions & How They Are Significantly Faltering Right Now, Which Has Compromised the "American Cause'

Now, well, I say 'compromised the American cause' for a good reason. When the word Intel is mentioned, many think of it as the US's primary chipmaker or the face of the American dream, but in reality, the firm hasn't managed to deliver on expectations. If we talk about just domestic chip manufacturing, Intel right now is nowhere near the likes of TSMC, despite being a company that was born in America. Nodes like the 18A, Intel 3, and others haven't managed to see large market adoption, and when you realize that TSMC just entered America a few years ago, this further causes uncertainty.

Another important factor is that Intel is the biggest recipient of the CHIPS Act, and despite the administration's huge expectations, Team Blue has failed to meet them. Now, there are many reasons behind this, but to sum it all up, if you spend billions on researching a node, there is little left for production and scale. Under former CEO Pat Gelsinger's '5N4Y' narrative, Intel spent tens of billions on creating the perfect node, but when it comes to execution, there were disappointments.

Facilities in Arizona, Oregon, and other regions are reporting slowdowns caused by economic concerns, and there hasn't been any progress that could put Intel back on track. Whereas competitors like TSMC, which entered the American markets in 2023, are thriving right now, and have already dominated the segment, which clearly indicates that Intel fell behind with its chipmaking operations. Ultimately, these issues created a 'domino' effect, and now you have a firm that is struggling to operate.

What's Next Now? Is TSMC Acquisition a Right Move For Intel Or Will the Current Leadership Find Its Way?

Let's start with an Intel-TSMC merger. I wrote a dedicated op-ed about it a few months ago, but to sum up for the context of this report, an Intel-TSMC acquisition doesn't make sense at all. It might be that the Trump administration favors it, considering how big a move the Taiwan giant made in such a short time related to American chip manufacturing, but it's like merging two different worlds. You cannot expect competitors to suddenly work together if they have different ideologies, technologies, workforces, and, more importantly, business scales.

The only thing that might make sense is that TSMC navigates Intel's chip operations, by the latter one becoming a separate entity, but for this to happen, the Taiwan giant would actually be helping out a potential threat to its chip dominance. So, we should rule it out for now, unless the US puts this as an actual condition for a deal with Taiwan to occur.

Intel's consumer business, notably its processors, was reported to be struggling with Panther Lake, mainly due to low 18A yield rates. Intel's decision to use foundry services for internal products hasn't worked out for several generations, and this isn't looking to change moving into the future. It is necessary for Intel to maintain shareholder confidence in its foundry business, which is why 18A is to be used for both Panther Lake and Nova Lake, but you also have to take into account the consumer perspective, which only wants top-tier products.

Intel's Products CEO has stated in the past that the company is open to shifting to TSMC for its dies entirely in the future, and that seems the only viable option if Team Blue wants to come back in the consumer CPU business. Intel doesn't lack the necessary tools for a top-tier CPU, but the internal struggle to maintain shareholder value has forced the firm to make decisions that don't turn out right. This isn't me saying; it is actually what former CEO Pat Gelsinger disclosed.

I, along with thousands of those who love the PCMR, certainly want to see Intel dominating the markets, but it is a long way from here, especially when you consider the recent events, and how President Trump is voicing against the leadership of the company.

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