In-house made Apple modems for use in iPhones could soon be a reality thereby cutting its reliance on Qualcomm for smartphone modems. The Cupertino giant and chipmaker Intel today inked a deal that will see the iPhone maker acquire “the majority” of Intel’s smartphone modem business. Apple will part with $1 billion for the deal. And that will enable Intel to transfer its over 2,200 employees, IP rights as well as equipment to the iPhone makers.
As interesting as the deal is, we are not to expect an iPhone made modern in any iPhone any sooner. Apple recently ended its age-long feud with Qualcomm, and part of the deal was a six-year licensing agreement with a multi-year chipset deal. Essentially, Apple will remain stuck to using Qualcomm’s modem, while it continues to develop its 5G modem in-house.
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For Cupertino giant, having its homemade Modem will be a win-win situation. This will afford it the chance to have better control of its future, better integrate those modems with its products, and develop new features that set its devices apart. Apple senior VP in a statement said the purchase would “expedite our development on future products and allow Apple to further differentiate moving forward.”
The deal notwithstanding, Intel will continue making modems for non-smartphone applications, such as PCs, industrial equipment and self-driving cars.
