Apple is looking to bolster the development of its own 5G chip through the acquisition of Intel’s German smartphone modem business, The Information reported, citing sources.
Apple used Germany’s Infineon when it launched the first iPhone 10 years ago. It then moved to Qualcomm in 2011. Intel then bought Infineon in 2011… The report from The Information follows up reports from May that Apple was working on designing its own 5G iphone chips, but that development would not be completed until 2025 at the earliest.
At its current rate, Apple isn’t expected to develop a 5G-ready iPhone until 2020 at the earliest.
MacDailyNews Take: Obviously, modems are incredibly difficult to develop. Hopefully, whatever Apple sees in Infineon, be it human capital and/or patents, can help get Apple to their own 5G modem grail!
Sounds promising to me.
Scary just how far Infineon fell back since 2011, was that inherent or down to Intel I wonder. It used to be a serious posterboy for advanced modems back in the day but maybe Apples dumping of it suggests the rot may have already set in. In hindsight either way Apple might have taken a different approach at that juncture had it had realised the monster it had thus encouraged in Qualcomm.