WebProNews

Though Apple publicly refers to a switch from IBM to Intel chips as rumors and speculation, the two companies have been talking over the years.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple doth protest too much; industry executives believe an Apple hookup with Intel will be decided soon.

Of course, the talks cited by those executives may be little more than a negotiating ploy by Steve Jobs, in order to gain a bit of leverage on IBM. But it is known that Intel has wanted a relationship with Apple for some time.

A change to Intel would be more than just a hardware shift for Apple. It would signal a change from being a premium brand to one that could compete with Dell on a pricing level.

An Intel partnership would likely include the sort of marketing subsidies the chipmaker provides to other computer makers to offset competition from rival chipmaker AMD.

It is known that Apple has created Intel-compatible operating systems, but has never released them, aside from Darwin. One of the sources also noted to the Journal that Apple does not want to compete directly with Microsoft.

The theory goes that since Microsoft produces a version of its Office productivity suite for Apple, it wouldn't do so if Apple suddenly became a player in markets where Microsoft earns hefty operating system licensing fees, as it does from every Dell computer.

David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business. Email him here.