Intel would make custom processors for Apple and Sony

Processor giant Intel said it would consider making chips for specific customers such as Apple and Sony, if asked.

Chief Financial officer Stacy Smith told journalists “There are certain customers that would be interesting to us and certain customers that wouldn't”. He added that Intel would be happy to create chip cores based on its own architecture for other companies but that allowing rival architectures to be manufactured in its plants would be a tough decision.

“If Apple or Sony came to us and said ‘I want to do a product that involves your IA (Intel architecture) core and put some of my IP around it', I wouldn't blink. That would be fantastic business for us.”

“Then you get into the middle ground of ‘I don't want it to be a IA core, I want it to be my own custom-designed core,' and then you are only getting the manufacturing margin, (and) that would be a much more in-depth discussion and analysis.”

There is no indication that Apple have asked for this however, but Intel have already signed some ‘tiny' foundry deals in the last 12 months, with the goal of getting access to new technology.

Intel dominate the industry, and 80 percent of the world's personal computers use their processors. It is still struggling to get a hold in the mobile marketplace however, with British maker ARM still with a high percent of sales for smartphones and tablets. This in all likelihood will change however in the coming years, especially if Intel put their mind, and huge resources in targeting it.

Apple's iPad for instance is powered by an ARM based processor which is made by Samsung Electronics. If Intel could get Apple to use one of their upcoming designs, it would be a massive source of income.

KitGuru says: They are already making plans for world domination by increasing their capital spending plan for 2011 to $10.2 billion, up from $9 billion the year before.

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