Can anybody save Intel?

INTEL has spent two decades missing the next big thing. The chipmaker’s dominant PC business blinded it to the opportunity from mobile phones in the 2000s. More recently, the firm was slow to adopt extreme-ultraviolet lithography, an expensive chipmaking process that was originally funded by Intel itself.

Now, Nvidia dominates the white-hot market for designing artificial intelligence (AI) chips, becoming the world’s most valuable semiconductor company. Investors in Intel have voted with their feet.

As when any corporate icon falls on hard times, dealmaking rumours are swirling. Qualcomm, an American chip designer, is reported to be interested in buying Intel. Apollo, a financial firm, is also mulling an investment.