Apple has finally had a major breakthrough with the acquisition of Intel’s smartphone modem business. Over the years, Apple relied on Qualcomm for the supply of smartphone modems cause they couldn’t make one of their own.
And their competitors; Samsung and Huawei, who both make their own modems won’t be so foolish to business with them. They later had to do business with Intel cause they went on a legal battle with Qualcomm. But will later return back to Qualcomm after both parties settled their dispute back in April 2019. A move that eventually led to Intel quitting the 5G modem business as there was no other company to do business with.
Apple is always the kind of company that likes to control their own fate as we have seen them do with their device’s hardware and software. Now the company has acquired the 5G modem business arm of Intel in a record-breaking $1 billion.
The deal is expected to be finalized in the fourth quarter of 2019. This is because the deal is subject to regulatory approval, works council and other consultation in certain jurisdictions. However, it did not stop the details of the deal from coming out. The acquisition will see about 2,000 Intel employees, equipment, intellectual properties and leases moving over to Apple.
Note that this deal is for only Intel smartphone modem business. Intel, a leading semiconductor company is still eligible to develop modems for PCs, IoT devices and lots more. In the coming years, Apple is expected to build competitive 5G modems that will challenge that of Qualcomm, Samsung and Huawei.
