by Jack Denton

Watch out, Micron and SK Hynix, new competition from an old face may soon be coming to the memory chip world -- from Intel.

Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan hinted this week that the chip maker, whose focus is on processing units such as for computers, could re-enter the memory market, where it was a major player until the 1980s and a pivot to processors.

Speaking on the TechSurge: Deep Tech podcast recently -- the episode was published on Tuesday -- Tan said that new memory architectures were a pet project of his and something that Intel was investigating.

"I used to be, 'do not invest in memory because it is a kind of commodity business,' but now it has become different," said Tan, noting that Intel had recently hired his "good friend," Seok-Hee Lee, the former CEO of South Korean memory chip maker SK Hynix.

"We are kind of looking at one of my pet projects, some of the new memory architecture," Tan said. " Something that I am thinking about. We are not ready to unfold it."

Tan's interview has caught the attention of some on Wall Street. In a note on Thursday, analysts at Oppenheimer highlighted the remarks, including the possibility of stacking memory on top of a computer processing unit (CPU). Re-entry into the memory market would require new capital as well as research and development -- and time, the Oppenheimer analysts highlighted.

Intel is unlikely to be a major player in the memory space any time soon, but Tan's words this week could be the signal that an expansion is coming.

With artificial intelligence driving intense demand for memory, hugely benefiting stocks like Micron and SK Hynix -- up around 200% and 135% so far this year -- it's understandable that Intel may be considering a competitive play.