Not long after Apple and Qualcomm's settlement was issued last week, Intel announced its withdrawal from the 5G smartphone modem busines...
Not long after Apple and Qualcomm's settlement was issued last week, Intel announced its withdrawal from the 5G smartphone modem business. Today we have learned that Intel will continue to supply 4G modems this year, which means that 2019 iPhones will continue to use the company's 4G chips.
According to Reuters' Stephen Neils, Intel CEO Bob Swan commented on the smartphone's modem plan during the company's 2019 Q1 earnings call: "“Our expectation is we will continue to deliver on the 4G modem throughout the course of this year, including the second iteration of that product coming in the fall back to school season.”
Given that Swan mentions the iterative product of the XMM 7660 chip, it is certainly reasonable that the company will continue to supply modems for the 2019 iPhone. Because is implicitly too late in such period for Apple's new iPhones to switch to Qualcomm's 4G modems, even if the chipmaker can catch up, the final outcome is likely to be the two suppliers to split the orders.
As for next year, Apple will unquestionably launch a 5G iPhone, and at least the flagship models will be replaced by Qualcomm's 5G modems. However, since Intel does not say that it will not continue to supply 4G modem in the coming year, Apple's low-cost models, namely the successors of the iPhone XR, will likely proceed to use Intel's ones next year. Apple and Qualcomm signed a multi-year chip supply agreement during the settlement last week, so as Apple prepares to enter the 5G era, we should see them less frequently uses Intel's cellular modems.
Image Via AppleRider
According to Reuters' Stephen Neils, Intel CEO Bob Swan commented on the smartphone's modem plan during the company's 2019 Q1 earnings call: "“Our expectation is we will continue to deliver on the 4G modem throughout the course of this year, including the second iteration of that product coming in the fall back to school season.”
Given that Swan mentions the iterative product of the XMM 7660 chip, it is certainly reasonable that the company will continue to supply modems for the 2019 iPhone. Because is implicitly too late in such period for Apple's new iPhones to switch to Qualcomm's 4G modems, even if the chipmaker can catch up, the final outcome is likely to be the two suppliers to split the orders.
As for next year, Apple will unquestionably launch a 5G iPhone, and at least the flagship models will be replaced by Qualcomm's 5G modems. However, since Intel does not say that it will not continue to supply 4G modem in the coming year, Apple's low-cost models, namely the successors of the iPhone XR, will likely proceed to use Intel's ones next year. Apple and Qualcomm signed a multi-year chip supply agreement during the settlement last week, so as Apple prepares to enter the 5G era, we should see them less frequently uses Intel's cellular modems.
Image Via AppleRider
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