Intel Explores Sale of Networking and Edge Unit
- Reference: 0177658527
- News link: https://slashdot.org/story/25/05/20/142206/intel-explores-sale-of-networking-and-edge-unit
- Source link:
> Intel has considered [1]divesting its network and edge businesses as the chipmaker looks to shave off parts of the company its new chief executive does not see as crucial, three sources familiar with the matter said.
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> Talks about the potential sale of the group, once called NEX in Intel's financial results, are a part of CEO Lip-Bu Tan's strategy to focus its tens of thousands of employees on areas in which it has historically thrived: PC and data center chips.
[1] https://www.reuters.com/technology/intel-explores-sale-networking-edge-unit-sources-say-2025-05-20/
Which will it be? (Score:3)
Are they selling their family jewels to maintain the mansion and the servants for a few more years? Or are they selling the underperforming units in order to focus on their core strengths?
I really don't know. My jury is still out regarding Intel. My gut tells me that they're in trouble. I hope the rebound.
Re: (Score:2)
The networking unit is one of those areas that have been respected. Even many AMD based motherboards incorporate Intel networking on them. So, it's a good source of revenue that is reliable, less prone to dips in popularity of this or that. For any larger corporation, having parts of the company that will continue to bring in money no matter what else may be going on SHOULD be seen as a very safe and intelligent thing to do.
AMD was able to use the console chip sales to hold things together, even in so
Re: (Score:1)
That's the thing that baffles me. Their NICs are a core strength!
Why? (Score:1)
Is it not profitable? No, it is profitable. And respected! Why get rid of it?
You don't prune the healthy parts of the company!
Anyone but Broadcom (Score:2)
If they end up selling the NEX unit I really hope it's sold to anyone but Broadcom. I have a deep seated hatred of Broadcom for how they handled VMware post acquisition.
True to Form (Score:4, Interesting)
My experience with Intel goes back decades -- back to when Andy Grove was running the place. It was always thus.
They would always be looking for a way to expand their business -- who wouldn't when they were at the top of the game -- and of course they would "invest" in embedded computing and networking products. With the exception of the Ethernet adapter chip, one by one their products would only do middling in the market, not make that much money, then they would deprecate/cancel/end-of-life the product with no replacement. In this case they are selling it off.
Inevitably their management would make a statement about "returning to our core competency" and this year seems no different. At the end of the day those products you designed on their chips ended up with no future. Deal.
The products themselves weren't bad -- and the network adapter chip managed to achieve dominance -- but Intel never seemed to know how to make a business out of it. Much of that I suspect was software. Software support for chips is expensive to maintain. They knew how to deal with Microsoft and other software sources basically followed along that path, pumping up the market for their x86-based chips. But that duopoly has fallen apart and they know it. Of course they will try to reclaim the CPU business but I just don't see how. Doing what Apple has done with the M series of chips or Nvidia has done is not something you just pivot to.
And AMD has hit their stride. Intel will survive but I don't see a path to market dominance they once had.
Re: (Score:2)
Very true. Intel historically jumps into new products/markets, does ok, then gives up and abandons it at a loss.