In a surprising move that could have massive implications for the mobile sector at a later date, Intel is reportedly designing what could well turn out to be the world’s first quad-core 64-bit ARM processing chip.

The news was announced by Intel partner Altera, which said that its Stratix 10 system-on-a-chip (SoC) will be powered by a “high-performance, quad-core 64-bit ARM Cortex-A53 processor.”

As Altera’s chief partner, that chip will therefore be made by Intel using an advanced 14-nanometer manufacturing process – a very different design from its usual range of chips, such as the latest Haswell processor, which is made on a 22-nanometer process.

With manufacturing set to begin next year, it’s likely that Intel’s chip would be the world’s first 64-bit quad-core ARM CPU. Previously, Apple has built its own 64-bit ARM chip, known as the A7, for smartphones. But unlike Intel’s planned chip, Apple’s chip is only dual-core, except for the quad-core graphics component.

Intel’s Chuck Mulloy confirmed the plans in a statement to CNET:

“Altera and Intel are pleased with the early results of the relationship between the companies and this announcement from Altera is consistent with the agreement we announced earlier this year. We have said that we will be open to manufacturing competitive architectures and would evaluate them on a case by case basis.”

Altera says that its quad-core 64-bit ARM chip will be designed for high-end networking and communication equipment, among other specialized applications, which means that it won’t be a direct competitor to companies like Qualcomm, Samsung or Nvidia, which specialize in building ARM chips for smartphones and tablets.

Massive market opportunity

However, Forbes contributor Jean-Baptists suggests that this could be the start of something much bigger for Intel, as its statement hints that it might even be willing to compete for the business of rivals like Qualcomm or Nvidia, if the price is right.

And why wouldn’t Intel want to take on the likes of TSMC, Global Foundries and Samsung to make ARM processor designs? Intel has almost certainly experimented with its own ARM processor designs before, and who wouldn’t be interested in ARM-based Intel chips for smartphones, tablets, laptops or even the Internet of Things?

With its years of expertise, it’s certainly not beyond Intel’s capabilities to make some of the best ARM processors on the market. Just imagine for a second the power of a 64-bit ARM chip built on Intel’s leading-edge fabs – who knows, maybe even Apple might choose to have its next ARMv8 64bit processors built by Intel?