Apple in 'advanced talks' to buy Intel's mobile modem business
Apple is allegedly in "advanced talks" to pick up Intel's smartphone modem business, ready to pay $1 billion or more for associated patents and workers.
A deal could be struck as soon as next week, said sources for the Wall Street Journal. The two sides have reportedly been in "off- and on-again" negotiations for a year, a major interruption taking place when Apple settled with Qualcomm and signed a new multi-year supply deal. At the same time, Intel announced it was abandoning work on 5G phone modems.
Intel's phone modem business has been losing about $1 billion per year, one source said.
Apple is believed to be developing its own 5G modem under senior hardware VP Johny Srouji, with an expected 2022 premiere. In the interim the company will likely use Qualcomm parts, since they're already in shipping 5G devices.
Buying out Intel talent and concepts could accelerate first-party development, though whether that would be enough to get a chip out in 2021 is unknown. Apple has long been hiring for its modem project and may have anticipated the Intel deal.
The company is believed to have been upset with Intel's progress towards a 5G modem for 2020 hardware. An April report said that Apple poached Intel's 5G modem lead shortly before the Qualcomm settlement, leaving the latter scrambling to put work back on track. The same month, Apple 5G lead Ruben Caballero departed.
A deal could be struck as soon as next week, said sources for the Wall Street Journal. The two sides have reportedly been in "off- and on-again" negotiations for a year, a major interruption taking place when Apple settled with Qualcomm and signed a new multi-year supply deal. At the same time, Intel announced it was abandoning work on 5G phone modems.
Intel's phone modem business has been losing about $1 billion per year, one source said.
Apple is believed to be developing its own 5G modem under senior hardware VP Johny Srouji, with an expected 2022 premiere. In the interim the company will likely use Qualcomm parts, since they're already in shipping 5G devices.
Buying out Intel talent and concepts could accelerate first-party development, though whether that would be enough to get a chip out in 2021 is unknown. Apple has long been hiring for its modem project and may have anticipated the Intel deal.
The company is believed to have been upset with Intel's progress towards a 5G modem for 2020 hardware. An April report said that Apple poached Intel's 5G modem lead shortly before the Qualcomm settlement, leaving the latter scrambling to put work back on track. The same month, Apple 5G lead Ruben Caballero departed.
Comments
That's $1 billion, which is practically petty cash for a company with as much cash as Apple.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/arm/
$1 billion for Intels modem business (though definitely not any where as mature as Qualcomms) would be a relative steal for apple. Looking at the pace of other aquitions as well, I doubt it would take even 2.5 years, but we are all guessing...
The cost of Intel's portfolio is relatively trivial for Apple to absorb. The value of that portfolio has yet to be determined. Do they have any SEP's? SEP's are definitely valuable. The rest? Who knows. There could be some diamonds in the rough. There could also be a lot of rough and no diamonds. Remember, Intel had the patent portfolio/modem business and managed to lose a rumored $1B a year with it.
I think he was being sarcastic?
Apple saw the trouble of relying on 3rd party modems so I see them using these patents to develop their own. Maybe Intel has some really great tech but has no idea how to use it(remember Xerox) unless someone like Apple comes along.
P.S. We have no idea IF or even how long they've been negotiating. For all we know they could be finalizing a deal after 5 years. This is all speculation.
They won't be selling these modems to their competitors, but how much is Qualcomm charing them or trying to charge them per device; apparently enough to stop Apple from doing business with them for an entire line of iPhone, and try to wage a mini-war with Qualcomm.
Apple only likes monopolies when it’s their monopoly...
This has nothing to do with the main processor.
This has everything to do with a 5G modem. Intel has been trying to develop one, but it's been failing to meet required specifications. It's getting too hot, for example. Qualcomm has solved or managed to avoid these thermal issues with their 5G architecture.
Monopolization is not a motivation for Apple. Delivering the best products and user experience sometimes requires breaking from the industry standards and "rolling your own". If a monopoly is created as a result, simply because of high adoption rate, that's just a side-effect, not a main driver. Let's keep that straight, eh?
The point is Intel's modem division is practically worthless to anyone else on the planet so Apple can drive a hard bargain if they choose to. It's only the desire to maintain good relations with their X86 supplier that would stop Apple from being a total shark on this negotiation. Because really for Intel it's basically what Apple wants to pay or $0 for their 5G business.
Really? In what major product category does Apple have a monopoly? Laptops? Desktops? Smart phones? Smart watches? Tablets? Operating systems? Music streaming? Bluetooth earphones? Smart speakers? What?
The only monopoly Apple has is its 'monopoly' on Apple-branded products. Just like Toyota has a 'monopoly' on Toyota vehicles, those bastards. And GM 'monopolizes' the Corvette market, those SOBs.
Sheesh. Sometimes an overwhelming desire to say something snarky causes a person's brain to shut down. Don't fret, it happens to me too.