A potential manufacturing agreement between Intel and Apple is being watched closely across the semiconductor industry, and a new analyst note from Bank of America suggests it could trigger a meaningful wave of demand for advanced chipmaking and packaging equipment.
Reports indicate Apple and Intel may have reached an agreement under which Intel would produce some Apple-designed chips. Apple is widely believed to rely heavily on Taiwan-based TSMC for manufacturing today, so even a partial shift in production could be significant—both strategically and financially. Bank of America estimates the potential value of this Intel–Apple arrangement at around $10 billion, though key details are still unclear, including which Apple products would be involved and what manufacturing technologies Intel would ultimately use.
Where the story gets especially interesting is what this could mean for the companies that supply the specialized machines required to build cutting-edge chips. Bank of America highlights two Netherlands-based equipment makers that could benefit if Intel ramps up capacity to support Apple orders: ASML and BE Semiconductor.
ASML plays a unique role in the chip world as the only company that produces EUV lithography systems—machines that are essential for manufacturing the most advanced chips at leading process nodes. If Intel needs to expand high-end production to meet Apple’s needs, EUV tools become a major piece of the investment.
BE Semiconductor, meanwhile, is tied to the next critical stage after chips are manufactured: advanced packaging. Specifically, the company makes hybrid bonding machines, which enable high-performance packaging approaches that are increasingly important for modern processors. Intel has been pushing its packaging capabilities aggressively, and packaging capacity across the industry has become a major focus as demand surges—particularly due to AI-related buildouts and tight advanced packaging availability.
According to Bank of America’s estimates, the size of Intel’s potential equipment purchases depends heavily on whether the iPhone is included in the scope of the deal. If iPhone-related chips are part of the agreement, Intel could reportedly order as many as 182 hybrid bonding machines from BE Semiconductor. If the iPhone is not included, that number could drop dramatically to around 15 machines. For context, 182 machines would be far above the roughly 80 hybrid bonding systems Intel is expected to order between 2024 and 2030.
On the lithography side, Bank of America estimates ASML’s benefit could range from about €1.8 billion in a standard scenario to as much as €4.6 billion if the deal expands to cover iPhone-related production. In that higher-demand case, Intel may need around 15 EUV lithography systems—equipment that sits at the heart of advanced chip fabrication and carries a massive price tag per tool.
If this agreement progresses beyond preliminary discussions, it could become one of the more important shifts in the chip manufacturing landscape in years—potentially reshaping how Apple diversifies its supply chain, how Intel scales its foundry ambitions, and how quickly equipment demand accelerates for both advanced lithography and next-generation chip packaging.
