The outgoing Chief Executive Officer of chip maker, Paul Otellini has admitted that Intel has missed an opportunity to offer its processor inside the first iPhone.

Otellini said that Apple had approached the chip-maker to supply a chip for the iPhone but the two companies did not reach an agreement on the matter because of the difference on the price that Apple was willing to offer and the price estimates by Intel. He said that his gut feeling was to say yes and also expressed regret on the decision not to go ahead with the business deal with Apple.

"We ended up not winning it or passing on it, depending on how you want to view it. And the world would have been a lot different if we'd done it," Otellini said.

Otellini pointed out that that price offered by Apple for the deal was lower than Intel forecasts but what they did not think about was  that the large volume could have made up for lowering costs. He said that the estimates were wrong and the volumes were 100 times more than what anyone expected.

He added that the decisions are often made on the basis of data but so many times he has taken decisions with his gut feeling. He said that he should have followed his gut with the deal with Apple and Intel would not have missed the opportunity for significantly higher business.