Intel Shares Surge After Trump Announces Apple Will Manufacture Chips in the U.S.

In a major shift for the global semiconductor supply chain, Apple has agreed to partner with Intel to design and manufacture chips in the United States. The arrangement was announced late Wednesday by U.S. President Donald Trump, who stated on Truth Social that he had intervened to support Intel's domestic production efforts.[1][2]

The market reaction was immediate and decisive. Intel shares surged as much as 9% in premarket trading on Thursday, injecting much-needed momentum into the company's stock. Apple shares also saw a modest bump of 0.6%, reflecting investor optimism about the tech giant's supply chain resilience.[1][3][6]

While neither company has issued a formal press release confirming the exact terms, the announcement corroborates reports from May 2026 that the two tech behemoths had reached a preliminary agreement. Those initial reports followed more than a year of intensive, high-level negotiations facilitated in part by the U.S. Department of Commerce.[3][4][8]

For Apple, the partnership solves a growing arithmetic problem. The company currently relies almost exclusively on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) for its custom silicon. However, TSMC is facing unprecedented capacity pressure from artificial intelligence giants like Nvidia and AMD, who are aggressively competing for the same advanced manufacturing lines.[2][7]

That bottleneck has already begun to impact Apple's bottom line. During a recent earnings call, CEO Tim Cook acknowledged that supply constraints had limited iPhone production, specifically citing difficulties in securing enough advanced chips from TSMC. By bringing Intel into the fold, Apple can spread its manufacturing requirements across multiple suppliers and geographies.[3][8]

Industry analysts caution that Intel will not immediately take over Apple's most cutting-edge designs. Wedbush Securities anticipates that the initial production runs will focus on older or lower-end processors, such as mature M-series chips for the iPad and MacBook Air, or processors for non-Pro iPhone models.[4][6]

Apple's flagship 2-nanometer designs—expected to power the upcoming iPhone 18 Pro range—will almost certainly remain with TSMC for the foreseeable future. Intel has only recently entered risk production for its next-generation 18A-P process, meaning full-scale commercial manufacturing for Apple likely will not commence until mid-2027 at the earliest.[4][7]

Despite the delayed timeline, landing Apple as a foundry customer is a monumental validation for Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan. Since taking the helm last year, Tan has bet the company's future on transforming Intel from a traditional integrated device manufacturer into a third-party foundry capable of competing with TSMC and Samsung.[2][5]

Intel's foundry division has historically struggled to convince outside designers that its manufacturing yields and reliability could match its Taiwanese rival. Securing a notoriously demanding client like Apple provides a marquee validation that could attract other fabless chipmakers to Intel's facilities.[6][7]

The deal also highlights the extraordinary, increasingly interventionist role the U.S. government is playing in the semiconductor industry. Last year, Washington converted $8.9 billion in unpaid CHIPS and Science Act grants into a roughly 10% equity stake in Intel, effectively making the federal government a major shareholder.[3][5][7]

This equity position marks a significant departure from traditional U.S. industrial policy, treating advanced logic foundries as critical national infrastructure. Administration officials, including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, reportedly held repeated meetings with Apple executives to encourage the partnership and secure domestic capacity.[5][8]

Beyond the immediate financial windfall for Intel, the agreement signals a structural fracture in the single-supplier foundry model that has dominated the tech sector for a decade. As the AI boom continues to consume global chipmaking capacity, even the world's most valuable consumer electronics company has realized it can no longer afford to put all its silicon in one basket.[7][8]