I brought up the topic a few months ago, but was told that there were too many roadblocks. Now, a few months later, it was one of the hotter topics at ESC Boston—whether Intel will acquire Freescale.

The news that came out last week, which was denied (sort of), was that Intel was acquiring Freescale's wireless operations in Toulouse, France. But why stop there? Why not acquire all of Freescale? Intel certainly has the assets to do so. It would really make them the king of the processor hill, possessing its own x86 architecture as well as a significant piece of the ARM business. It also gives them a nice entry into the automotive space, one they've previously not played in, at least in a manner that a Freescale acquisition would provide.

I talked this up with some people in the know at ESC last week, and everyone I encountered agreed that it made sense. One person even took it one step further, saying that he wouldn't be surprised if it moved Intel in to the IP space, a la ARM. That could put them in bed with the FPGA providers, something ARM is just starting to wrap its "arms" around.

What do think? Is this plausible? Does it make sense?