Intel plans to sell baseband chip business, but Apple has given up?

Apple and Qualcomm “ Patent wars ” After the announcement of reconciliation , The cooperation between the two countries has been reopened . However, after apple and Qualcomm reconciled , Will not rest easy . Apple already knows that there is no self-developed chip , Being person “ thetime ” What it's like , Therefore, Apple's self-developed modem project will continue .

in fact , Before settling with Qualcomm , Apple is interested in acquiring part of Intel's mobile modem chip business , To speed up Apple's self-developed modem chip project .

In recent days, ,《 Wall Street journal 》 According to the disclosed report of the source , Apple once considered acquiring Intel's modem chip business , The two sides began negotiations last summer to acquire the latter's smart phone modem chip business , The negotiation between them lasted for several months , Until apple and Qualcomm reached a multi-year chip supply agreement , So apple and Intel stopped negotiating to acquire the smartphone modem business .

Intel made a statement after Qualcomm and Apple announced a settlement , Said it would give up 5G Modem chip project , But it will still provide Apple 4G Modem chip service . But anyway , Intel's modem chip business is at an end , Intel is currently looking for strategic transformation solutions for its modem chip business , It also includes selling to Apple or other acquirers .

It is worth mentioning that , The report mentioned that many companies are interested in acquiring Intel's modem chip business , Goldman Sachs Group was hired to manage this process , But it is still in its infancy . Some people familiar with the matter said , If a deal is reached , Intel may earn billions of dollars .

People familiar with the matter said , The negotiations between Intel and apple reflect that Apple has begun to take a more open attitude towards large-scale acquisitions , And this potential deal of billions of dollars will accelerate Apple's own development of wireless chip technology . But unfortunately , Apple finally gave up acquiring Intel's modem business .

Apple A Series mobile phone processor has always been the best mobile phone processor in the industry at the same time , But it still relies on modem chips provided by third parties . The apple in iPhone XS、iPhone XR After using Intel modem in series products , Leading to poor reputation of its communication signal , A large number of users complain about Apple iPhone Signal odd difference of .

Although Intel's modem has cost Apple some brand reputation , But apple, which is fighting against Qualcomm, can only choose Intel . However, as 5G The time is coming , Intel 5G Modems are difficult to commercialize in time , At the beginning of this year, Qualcomm 5G Smart phones with modems have been commercially available , If Apple continues to choose to wait for Intel 5G modems , More likely, it will make iPhone Lose a large part of the market share . So , Apple will have to give up its past grievances , Even pay a huge price to reconcile with Qualcomm , With a view to launching smoothly next year 5G edition iPhone.

However, using Qualcomm's modem chip , It also greatly increases Apple's cost pressure , In addition to the huge settlement fees paid to Qualcomm , Each station iPhone The patent fees that need to be paid to Qualcomm are also from 7.5 The dollar rose to 9 About $ . therefore , Even to re-establish a partnership with Qualcomm , Apple still wants to get rid of Qualcomm all the time .

It is reported that Apple has 1000-2000 Famous engineer , Is preparing for the coming iPhone Working for modem chip development , Realize the integrated layout of independent R & D and production in the supply chain . so to speak , The reconciliation between apple and Qualcomm may just be a stopgap , Wait until the self-developed chip is commercially available , Apple will not hesitate to give up Qualcomm .

However , Since the research 5G Modem chips are not so easy . Although Apple has invested a lot of human and financial resources in the self-developed modem project , But there is still a lack of technical accumulation in this area , a large number of 5G Modem patents are held by Qualcomm 、 Huawei 、 Intel and others , It's not easy to bypass them .

If Apple buys Intel's modem business , Obviously, it can obtain the patented technology and talents accumulated by Intel for many years , This will greatly save the cost and time of Apple's self-developed modem . therefore , From this point of view , It may not be a wise choice for apple to abandon its acquisition of Intel's modem business .

edit ： Smart core - Woods