Apple currently buys 4G modems from Intel and presumably Apple is shopping for 5G modems. If Intel no longer makes 5G modems then Apple needs to buy them from Qualcomm. Or it could be the reverse: if Apple has decided to buy 5G modems from Qualcomm then Intel has no customers for its 5G modems and thus decided to cancel them.
It is not like Qualcomm settles with Apple to get into Apple's cellphones, it is a concession made to make them drop Intel and still pay them royalties after Apple finishes its own modem.
Apple been poaching Qualcomm's top radio engineers for years ...for work in their Chinese RnD centre (no non-compete enforcement there)
Wouldn't it be suicide for a pro-privacy company to put Huawei gear in it's phones? Normally I would figure consumers just aren't that privacy-conscious, but with the current national security climate around Huawei, I think many more people are aware of the massive risks they pose.
Qualcomm, I suppose. I personally think it's more likely that Apple wants to make its own. One thing it does do well is custom fabrication and optimization, which is why iPhones run better with less RAM than Androids and can have good battery life. I think they may be sick of the trouble caused by 3rd-party suppliers in this department.
Maybe soon Apple could drop the "Designed in California", and just go 100% "Made in PRC".
True story: I was born in a opressive communist dictatorship, escaped with my family to freedom and democracy. It's very hard to observe the vanguard of democratic capitalism, become 99% communist, with a couple guys in California rounding the corners and painting the boxes...
The litigation between Apple and Qualcomm gave Intel a customer for a fledgling product line. Apple is a plum customer as they drive tons of volume for a single sku.
That’s a big advantage that Apple has had — their tighter product lines allow them to commit to a large number of parts for long periods of time.
The Intel reps mostly talk about storage these days. Quite a departure from the old days of high margin chips.
I feel like it's the reverse, since the lawsuits really only started on the heels of Apple supposedly sharing secrets with Intel to help develop their baseband tech. The litigation was probably ended because Apple eventually realized that Intel wasn't able to come up with a decent baseband chip that could compete with Qualcomm, much less one that could satisfy quality constraints and volume production across all of Apple's product lines. Apple had to come to a deal with Qualcomm (at the very least, so they can potentially gain access to Qualcomm's IP). Intel either was already planning to throw in the towel or this was the straw that broke the camel's back. With Apple deciding to stick with Qualcomm (or their own homegrown chip), there's no potential market for an Intel 5G modem and no point in throwing more money after bad.
