Intel to Apple: NO, IT'S MINE!

This has proven to be quite a week for Imagination Technologies. Just days after it was revealed that Apple has taken a 3.6 percent stake in the U.K. chip designer–whose PowerVR mobile graphics components are now expected to figure prominently in future iPhones, Intel raised its own stake in the company to 3.04 percent. And it said in a filing with the London Stock Exchange that it will consider an outright acquisition of Imagination if another bid should emerge.

Now Intel (INTC), which already held a 2.9 percent stake in Imagination, insists “it has no current intention to make an offer for Imagination Technologies.” And clearly, it would prefer Apple (AAPL) not to make one either. Why else would it raise its stake in the company less than 48 hours after news of the Mac maker’s investment?