It's not hard to see what Apple intends. Use another company's baseband chips and your phones are like those of your competitors. Use your own chips, and your phones may be better, giving you a competitive advantage. The risk lies in that 'may.' Get it wrong but ship your chip in a phone anyway and you're in big, big trouble. That said, Apple is now big enough they can afford to take a chance and may be able to use their 'we have our own design' and perhaps some patents they've picked up along the way to win a better price even if they still stay with Qualcomm.
Now, Apple is able to defend itself in court, saying that it is buying components from others, and their vendors already have licenses, etc. So everything is clean.
If Apple is building its own baseband, to be used in high end devices only, they might be exposed to higher FRAND prices. The trouble with FRAND, is that it does not mean everybody pays the same price. There is acceptance that larger vendors with more expensive products can be asked for higher prices. Very much like the tax system.
But worse, it exposes Apple to massive recall risk if there is some thing in the baseband that isn't right. CPUs are something that Apple had experience with, especially considering its association with ARM in early days. Baseband is a brand new initiative, with zero experience or expertise. Is it possible to crack all issues by just throwing money and hiring people? If that was the case, why can't many more players do this?
This is a disaster waiting to happen. Apple is better off sticking to high end research and then patenting it, offering it to others who have better experience to do something with it.
This is a disaster waiting to happen. Apple is better off sticking to high end research and then patenting it, offering it to others who have better experience to do something with it.
Not really. I’d rather they build their own stuff the way they want it, just like they’ve done with processors.
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That said, Apple is now big enough they can afford to take a chance and may be able to use their 'we have our own design' and perhaps some patents they've picked up along the way to win a better price even if they still stay with Qualcomm.
Now, Apple is able to defend itself in court, saying that it is buying components from others, and their vendors already have licenses, etc. So everything is clean.
If Apple is building its own baseband, to be used in high end devices only, they might be exposed to higher FRAND prices. The trouble with FRAND, is that it does not mean everybody pays the same price. There is acceptance that larger vendors with more expensive products can be asked for higher prices. Very much like the tax system.
But worse, it exposes Apple to massive recall risk if there is some thing in the baseband that isn't right. CPUs are something that Apple had experience with, especially considering its association with ARM in early days. Baseband is a brand new initiative, with zero experience or expertise. Is it possible to crack all issues by just throwing money and hiring people? If that was the case, why can't many more players do this?
This is a disaster waiting to happen. Apple is better off sticking to high end research and then patenting it, offering it to others who have better experience to do something with it.
Not really. I’d rather they build their own stuff the way they want it, just like they’ve done with processors.
iTooth; or would that be eyeTeeth?