As Qualcomm dispute drags on, Apple said to tap MediaTek for additional 2018 iPhone modem ...
Looking to reduce its reliance on legal foe Qualcomm, Apple is said to be eyeing a partnership with Taiwan's MediaTek, which could supply baseband modem chipsets for iPhones beginning in 2018.
Word of the potential partnership was reported on Tuesday by DigiTimes, which has a hit-or-miss track record on Apple product rumors, but frequently gets scoops on which companies land part orders from the iPhone maker.
Tuesday's report qualified that MediaTek "has a chance" to secure modem orders from Apple. The Cupertino, Calif., company already transferred half of its iPhone modem chipsets from Qualcomm to Intel, following Apple's lawsuit filed earlier this year, accusing Qualcomm of withholding nearly $1 billion in rebates.
In addition, word of MediaTek gaining a role in Apple's supply chain was already previously reported by The Wall Street Journal in October.
According to DigiTimes, Apple has three key principles it expects of suppliers, all of which MediaTek meets: Companies must offer leading technological competitiveness, they must have comprehensive product blueprints, and they need reliable logistic support.
Beyond the iPhone, it was speculated that MediaTek could cooperate with Apple on future product lines like smart speakers and wireless charging devices. That would suggest the company could contribute to the HomePod and AirPower product lineups down the road.
In its dispute with Qualcomm, Apple claims the company withheld some $1 billion in royalty rebates in retaliation for cooperating with South Korean antitrust investigators. The ongoing issues could be rendered moot if Qualcomm is acquired by Broadcom, which has allegedly considered a hostile takeover priced at well over $100 billion.
Word of the potential partnership was reported on Tuesday by DigiTimes, which has a hit-or-miss track record on Apple product rumors, but frequently gets scoops on which companies land part orders from the iPhone maker.
Tuesday's report qualified that MediaTek "has a chance" to secure modem orders from Apple. The Cupertino, Calif., company already transferred half of its iPhone modem chipsets from Qualcomm to Intel, following Apple's lawsuit filed earlier this year, accusing Qualcomm of withholding nearly $1 billion in rebates.
In addition, word of MediaTek gaining a role in Apple's supply chain was already previously reported by The Wall Street Journal in October.
According to DigiTimes, Apple has three key principles it expects of suppliers, all of which MediaTek meets: Companies must offer leading technological competitiveness, they must have comprehensive product blueprints, and they need reliable logistic support.
Beyond the iPhone, it was speculated that MediaTek could cooperate with Apple on future product lines like smart speakers and wireless charging devices. That would suggest the company could contribute to the HomePod and AirPower product lineups down the road.
In its dispute with Qualcomm, Apple claims the company withheld some $1 billion in royalty rebates in retaliation for cooperating with South Korean antitrust investigators. The ongoing issues could be rendered moot if Qualcomm is acquired by Broadcom, which has allegedly considered a hostile takeover priced at well over $100 billion.
Comments
Those idiots are advertising in the WSJ that they are the reason why cellular networks exist.Then they will claim they created TouchID .
oh, wait, a first post.
Your angst comes from Qualcomm's licensing/royalties methods, which have pissed off the industry for years (anyone remember BREW from the 90's?). Since Qualcomm became huge AND had the best cellular modem chips, no one could stand up to them -- except Apple.
And Apple have made it clear that throttling the Qualcomm chips' throughput to level the field with Intel chips is MORE important than dealing with Qualcomm's methods. To me, this is VERY REVEALING - this is one situation where Apple aren't picking the best technological choice.
Hey, Broadcom -- buy Qualcomm and put in place more normal licensing methods so Apple can continue to use Qualcomm chips (i.e., clear out Qualcomm's "mahogony row" but leave the engineers alone).
https://timesofsandiego.com/tech/2017/11/07/qualcomm-and-its-founders-recognized-for-historic-electronics-milestone/
But this MediaTek rumor sounds like a 2019 thing at best. The 2018 phones are locked in hardware-wise. Maybe it is for a different product than phones though. The rumor is that MediaTek can bid for a modem component contract from Apple? That’s a nothing burger. If really true, maybe Apple has qualified a MediaTek modem for usage in Apple products and therefore MediaTek can bid. That’s the only way this makes 2018.
There is no doubt that Qualcomm has made (and continues to make) groundbreaking strides in communications, but unfortunately for Qualcomm this makes not a jot of difference in whether or not their double-dipping is something that will end up costing them more than they’re gaining.
Google refused to add turn-by-turn navigation to their iOS Maps app (something which I think was quite dangerous). The net result of this is that Google lost its place as the most-used mapping app on iOS.
It will take years, but I don’t see Qualcomm being the net winner out of this.
Apple never said it makes the best technological choice. They use slower processors and underclock them, which is why my Mac laptops outlasted a Dell, an Asus and one other I can’t remember. And due to the tight integration with this slower hardware, the machine performance was easily on a par with the Windows machines that burned out in a third of the time.
The best technological choice is not necessarily the best choice for your customers. Besides which, who, aside from people who’ve read about the difference, is actually going to notice a real-world difference between Qualcomm and Intel modems? Geeks? Maybe? The other 99.9% of Apple’s customer base? No, probably not.