Apple about to take over 5G fashion division from Intel

Apple is at an advanced stage of taking over the 5G fashion division of Intel. The Intel division, which has been in loss for a long time, will be bought for around $1 billion.

The first rumours of interest in a takeover at Apple arose in April. At the time, the company announced that Qualcomm’s components would be used instead of Intel’s for future iPhones and iPads. Apple’s explanation at the time was that it simply took too long for Intel to come up with a working 5G modem. Intel was at that time still two to three years away from a working 5G modem chip. Apple was also not impressed by preliminary designs.

No more switching suppliers

According to the Wall Street Journal, the negotiations could be decided as early as next week. If this were true, Apple would get both patents and employees from the Intel division for the development of its own 5G chips. Despite the fact that Apple was able to bridge the earlier delay at Intel with the help of Qualcomm, it is not expected that Apple will introduce the first iPhone at 5G before 2020. This is in contrast to competitors such as Samsung and Huawei, who have already announced 5G smartphones.

Apple has changed supplier several times: The company’s original iPhones used Infineon modems, and Apple started using Qualcomm chips in 2011. In 2016, Apple switched to Intel due to a legal conflict with Qualcomm, so Apple then returned to Qualcomm due to delays at Intel. It now seems that Apple will be able to end this change pattern if it starts producing modems itself from the acquired Intel division, but the question is whether the modem chips will be competitive or not. “It’s one thing to create internally used components, but it’s another thing to succeed against the competition,” says Holger Mueller, analyst at Constellation Research.