Intel makes a pitch for Apple's mobile business

One of the biggest moments for Apple in the past decade was the switch to Intel's x86 chips to power its Macintosh notebooks and desktops. An even bigger moment was when Apple announced the iPhone, and later the iPad tablet.

It should be no surprise, then, that word of a deal involving Intel, the iPad and the iPhone is raising eyebrows across the industry.

The EE Times quotes industry analyst Gus Richard in reporting that Intel is looking to strike a deal with Apple to make the A4 and A5 processors which Apple uses to power its iOS devices.

Richard goes on to suggest that Apple would benefit from Intel's manufacturing expertise and facitilities, while Intel would get a boost from Apple's market share in the tablet and smartphone spaces.

The idea of a tie up between Apple and Intel is interesting. But what if Intel's mobile business, including its Atom line, starts to come into competition with Apple devices? Will Intel press Apple to switch to its own platforms? Will the deal fall apart and leave Apple looking for a new foundry? Or will the companies simply get along for the sake of business? Intel already makes CPUs for other PC vendors, and Apple is just fine with that.

Perhaps the deal that helped Apple's Macintosh line take off again will be remade into the deal that helped to boost iOS hardware.