I think we can infer some of that from what Intel is doing now.
There are two orthogonal competitions happening here. One is between x86 and ARM, and the other is between Intel and TSMC. TSMC can manufacture x86 chips (this is what they do for AMD) but they can also churn out ARM chips for Apple and Amazon, GPU’s for nVidia, and so on. So while Intel’s manufacturing was vertically integrated with their x86 chip designs, TSMC specialized in fabrication, and got ahead of Intel.
Intel’s response has been to undo some of that vertical integration. Part of this entailed plans to outsource some of their manufacturing to TSMC, but another part was to reinvest in their own fabs and compete directly with TSMC by providing fabrication for other companies’ chips. This latter effort has received lots of political support. Maybe Intel simply decided their vertical integration strategy was unworkable, or maybe the recent chip shortage and the geopolitically vulnerable position of Taiwan has created a lot of political demand for a domestic alternative to TSMC that Intel is trying to capitalize on.
TSMC didn't get ahead because they were specialized. Intel just had many years of delays / failures depending on how you see it. TSMC traditionally and still are a slow risk-adverse entity and hence were usually behind the competition e.g. Intel.
Intel had always wanted to open up their fabs - want being the term here. It was just never executed very well in the past.
Even ignoring the chip shortage and any recent political demand there has always been a demand for alternatives e.g. Apple / nVidia going with TSMC / Samsung. You can never rely on a single provider.
I see Intel fixing their problems rather than having a major shift in strategy.
There are two orthogonal competitions happening here. One is between x86 and ARM, and the other is between Intel and TSMC. TSMC can manufacture x86 chips (this is what they do for AMD) but they can also churn out ARM chips for Apple and Amazon, GPU’s for nVidia, and so on. So while Intel’s manufacturing was vertically integrated with their x86 chip designs, TSMC specialized in fabrication, and got ahead of Intel.
Intel’s response has been to undo some of that vertical integration. Part of this entailed plans to outsource some of their manufacturing to TSMC, but another part was to reinvest in their own fabs and compete directly with TSMC by providing fabrication for other companies’ chips. This latter effort has received lots of political support. Maybe Intel simply decided their vertical integration strategy was unworkable, or maybe the recent chip shortage and the geopolitically vulnerable position of Taiwan has created a lot of political demand for a domestic alternative to TSMC that Intel is trying to capitalize on.