5G iPhone might have Samsung or MediaTek modems, says Apple's Tony Blevins
Apple has considered the possibility of using modems from Samsung and MediaTek in its future 5G devices, testimony at a US Federal Trade Commission trial with Qualcomm reveals, with an Apple executive confirming there is a possibility of the two companies providing modems for the forthcoming 2019 iPhone refresh.
Advised in antitrust trial testimony on Friday, Apple supply chain executive Tony Blevins confirmed Apple had looked towards other rival modem suppliers as potential sources of modems, Reuters reports. It was not revealed if one or both companies had the prospect of becoming a supplier, nor what proportion of modems they would supply alongside Intel.
The admission suggested Apple is fine with the idea of allowing multiple suppliers to provide modems for iPhones, which would be a return to form for the company. In 2016, Apple moved from Qualcomm as the only supplier to having Intel as a secondary option, but by 2018, Apple had instead moved entirely to Intel, freezing Qualcomm out of the supply chain for that specific component.
Blevins told the court Apple was looking into potentially using MediaTek and Samsung to supply the chips, in order to allow the iPhones to work with 5G cellular networks. The executive did not say if Apple had in fact made a decision on 5G modem suppliers, nor whether it would even release a 5G-capable iPhone at all.
Rumors from November and December suggest it is unlikely for this year, with Apple intending to use 5G-capable modems in iPhones arriving in 2020.
The discussions with Samsung was "not an ideal environment" for Apple, Blevins noted in his testimony. While Samsung is a major competitor against Apple in the smartphone industry, it is also a major supplier to many smartphone vendors, and is the largest component supplier to Apple itself.
As part of the testimony, Blevin confirmed Apple stopped using Intel for modems for the iPad mini 2 in 2013 as it would lose the rebates, calling Intel "economically unattractive" at that point in time. Within a year, following attempts to sufficiently negotiate costs with Qualcomm, Apple launched an attempt to secure a second modem supplier, dubbed "Project Antique."
"The entire concept of Project Antique was to find a second supplier," Blevins told the court. "No offense to [Intel] but we don't want to be single supplier with them. We wanted both Qualcomm and [Intel] in the mix."
While Intel re-entered the modem supply chain in 2016, Qualcomm's lawsuit caused the business relationship with Apple to change "in a very profound and negative manner," prompting a switch to just using Intel chips.
Blevins was giving testimony in court as part of the antitrust trial between Qualcomm and the FTC, which commenced last week. The suit was initiated nearly two years ago, with the FTC accusing Qualcomm of forcing Apple into an exclusive modem deal that ran between 2011 and 2016, in exchange for lower patent royalties.
Advised in antitrust trial testimony on Friday, Apple supply chain executive Tony Blevins confirmed Apple had looked towards other rival modem suppliers as potential sources of modems, Reuters reports. It was not revealed if one or both companies had the prospect of becoming a supplier, nor what proportion of modems they would supply alongside Intel.
The admission suggested Apple is fine with the idea of allowing multiple suppliers to provide modems for iPhones, which would be a return to form for the company. In 2016, Apple moved from Qualcomm as the only supplier to having Intel as a secondary option, but by 2018, Apple had instead moved entirely to Intel, freezing Qualcomm out of the supply chain for that specific component.
Blevins told the court Apple was looking into potentially using MediaTek and Samsung to supply the chips, in order to allow the iPhones to work with 5G cellular networks. The executive did not say if Apple had in fact made a decision on 5G modem suppliers, nor whether it would even release a 5G-capable iPhone at all.
Rumors from November and December suggest it is unlikely for this year, with Apple intending to use 5G-capable modems in iPhones arriving in 2020.
The discussions with Samsung was "not an ideal environment" for Apple, Blevins noted in his testimony. While Samsung is a major competitor against Apple in the smartphone industry, it is also a major supplier to many smartphone vendors, and is the largest component supplier to Apple itself.
As part of the testimony, Blevin confirmed Apple stopped using Intel for modems for the iPad mini 2 in 2013 as it would lose the rebates, calling Intel "economically unattractive" at that point in time. Within a year, following attempts to sufficiently negotiate costs with Qualcomm, Apple launched an attempt to secure a second modem supplier, dubbed "Project Antique."
"The entire concept of Project Antique was to find a second supplier," Blevins told the court. "No offense to [Intel] but we don't want to be single supplier with them. We wanted both Qualcomm and [Intel] in the mix."
While Intel re-entered the modem supply chain in 2016, Qualcomm's lawsuit caused the business relationship with Apple to change "in a very profound and negative manner," prompting a switch to just using Intel chips.
Blevins was giving testimony in court as part of the antitrust trial between Qualcomm and the FTC, which commenced last week. The suit was initiated nearly two years ago, with the FTC accusing Qualcomm of forcing Apple into an exclusive modem deal that ran between 2011 and 2016, in exchange for lower patent royalties.
Comments
As for Samsung and MediaTek... Exynos chips have a good rep and we know the 5100 is a thing. MediaTek's M70 is at least a completed. The only thing I know of MediaTek is their reputation for the the chip of choice for lower tier devices. Not sure how I feel about that. Questionable business practices aside, there's been enough Samsung tech in Apple's devices for me to not worry about the modem quality too much.
Qualcomm’s monopoly is more 3G and earlier. Qualcomm might be lightly better in 4G & 5G but there’s no longer the customer lock-in in IP, for a marginal performance boost.
Goodbye Qualcomm.
It clearly had no intention of making its own modem or else it would have had something in the pipe long before now and ready to release in line with Samsung, Qualcomm, Huawei, etc
Someday Apple might make a fully integrated chip to save on power, but I don’t think it’s a priority. The price difference between WiFi and Cellular + WiFi has to be pretty lucrative. Personally, I’d want to have 5G (etc) in every device but that’s a consumer talking.
Qualcomm has 30,000+ employees but they road 3G (and a less extend 4G because it needed backward compatibility) all the way until 2013 at which point the companies growth stalled.
Qualcomm losing their legal battles is going to be huge. They’re not going out of business, but they’re in serious trouble.
I’m fine with that. I’d far rather have good battery life than a modem that might give me increased speeds in a handful of locations.
You made it sounds like we need Qualcomm in 4G only because of 3G, ( or more like CDMA ), which is not true. And I am reading you also implies that 5G requires backward compatibility to 4G so there is no need for Qualcomm, which is not true as well.
I'm betting we will see 5G in an Apple phone this September. If not, we'll see another disappointing sales year.
One possible scenario is: Qualcomm will drop their ridiculous exclusivity requirement and supply Apple with 5G modems for the high end Xs line of phones -- and the lower cost LCD units will continue with LTE modems until Intel and others can get on board.
But, hopefully, Intel, Samsung and third tier players will be up and running by then.
"It's already frozen 9 months before release"?
"Not many will care"?
"The damn users can wait!"
If any or all of that were actually true it would surely, more than anything else, signal the demise of Apple -- not because Apple didn't have a 5G phone when "everybody" else did, but because it showed an arrogance, indifference and hubris of a lesser company.
Apple has an upgrade program in place for those that are concerned about this years lack of 5G future proofing.
Myself, I'll be lucky to see 5G buildout in my exurban area in the next 5 years, if history is any example.
I am interested in the high end iPhone model that will have three rear cameras, replacing my iPhone 7 Plus, so I'll likely get my wish, based on the rumors.