US President Donald Trump on Thursday said in a Truth Social post confirmed that Apple Inc. has agreed to work with Intel Corp. to design and manufacture its chips in the United States.
In the post, Trump wrote that the United States lost control of semiconductors industry which he claims of bringing it back.
Trump said the agreement followed earlier efforts by his administration to support Intel and bring semiconductor production back to the US. In his post, he said America “needed its Semiconductor Industry to come back” and that chips designed in the country should also be built domestically.
He says he stepped in to support Intel, positioning it as the backbone of a revived American semiconductor industry. Around that, he describes bringing in other major tech players such as Nvidia, Apple, and Elon Musk to collaborate with Intel and manufacture chips in the United States.
Trump then introduces a financial angle to strengthen his argument. According to him, the US government not only supported Intel but did so in a business-like way by taking a 10% ownership stake. He frames this as a smart deal: Intel's value, he claims, rose dramatically afterward, turning that stake into tens of billions of dollars.
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Apple and Intel Deal
Intel had reached a preliminary deal to make some chips for Apple after more than a year of discussions, the Wall Street Journal reported in May.
A contract with Apple would provide Intel with steady demand from one of the world's largest consumer electronics companies and help strengthen the credibility of its foundry business, which has struggled to close the gap with TSMC in recent years.
Earlier this week, Intel said its 18A manufacturing technology had entered initial production, with the company citing strong demand for its central processors, according to a report in Reuters.
Trump also said the US government's 10% stake in Intel had increased sharply in value since the administration's investment. Last year, his administration announced plans to invest about $10 billion in Intel to support the construction and expansion of US factories, reported Reuters.
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