Apple agreed to use Qualcomm modems for the next six years, but now that they’re acquired Intel’s modem business, they may not need to.
Apple may have lost the 5G battle to Qualcomm, but it’s now in a position to win the war.
Apple said Thursday it will buy Intel’s smartphone modem business, which includes several patents and about 2,000 Intel employees, for $1 billion. It’s no secret Apple has been interested in developing its own modems for the iPhone, and buying up all that Intel IP puts it in a position to have one ready by the time its deal with Qualcomm runs out.
MacDailyNews Take: Well before its deal with Qualcomm runs out if all goes even remotely well.
In April’s settlement, Apple agreed to use Qualcomm modems for the next six years, with an option to extend the relationship another two. That gives Apple up to eight years to perfect the smartphone modems Intel was struggling with and get them up to par with Qualcomm’s technology…
Apple has a talented executive, SVP of hardware technologies Johny Srouji, on deck to make it happen. Srouji is the genius who turned Apple into a company that makes some of the best-performing mobile processors in the world… Now he’ll get a chance to do the same with an equally important iPhone component.
MacDailyNews Note: Earlier today, Reuters reported that Apple has charted an aggressive timeline for producing an internally-developed 5G modem for use in some of its products by 2021.