Taiwan's TSMC and Intel made a joint statement on March 3 that the two companies have formed a strategic alliance, whereby Intel will port its Atom microprocessor design to TSMC's technology platform, Taiwan's United Daily News reported. Although seen as an unusual move by Intel to enter strategic partnership with a chip foundry, the agreement between Intel and TSMC is not a manufacturing outsourcing deal as projected by the media and industry analysts. Rather, the two companies' collaboration will focus on technology platforms, IP (Intellectual Property) infrastructure, and SoC (System on Chip) solutions. By combining Intel's Atom SoC availability with TSMC's IP infrastructure, the two companies expect to expand the applications of the Atom microprocessor, which targets the emerging market segments of MIDs (Mobile Internet Devices), netbook PCs, and Smartphones.