According to the Wall Street Journal source, Apple is considering using baseband chips from Intel and MediaTek in future products as Qualcomm has made reservations about Apple's baseband chip testing software, and if you want to test Qualcomm in iPhone and iPad prototyping products Chip, these software is quite critical.
In the past 10 years, Qualcomm has been working with Apple, in January this year, Apple sued Qualcomm, claiming that Qualcomm use market monopoly to block competitors, levy too much royalties, the source said, after the prosecution Qualcomm no longer share software to Apple According to Apple 's plan, next year will abandon the high - pass baseband chip, the chip is responsible for dealing with wireless devices and mobile networks between the communication.For the current wireless standards, Qualcomm is still the largest supplier of such chips.
Qualcomm said the baseband chip used in the next generation of iPhone has been fully tested and submitted to Apple, and Qualcomm said it will 'fully support Apple's new product' and make no difference to the products offered to other companies.
Previously Apple used Qualcomm baseband chip, Apple launched iPhone 7 and 7 Plus last year, began to purchase part of the baseband chip from Intel in September this year, Apple introduced iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, in addition to Qualcomm chips, Apple also used the Intel chip.
Although Apple intends to remove the high-pass chips in next year's products, but the plan is not sure, there may be changes.Appiliar with the Apple supply chain production process, said sources, Apple may be in late June to determine the baseband suppliers, and this time From the new iPhone market there are three months time at the same time the insider also said that Apple has never designed before using non-Qualcomm baseband chip iPhone and iPad, so the need for a larger design adjustment.
Qualcomm and Apple argue in court, from Apple's new plan, the dispute may spread to Qualcomm another important business, and even lead to the entire smart phone supply chain chain reaction. Macquarie Capital estimated that last year, Apple sold about $ 3.2 billion Of the baseband chip, accounting for 20% of the total chip sales this year, Qualcomm sold Apple's chip value will reach 2.1 billion US dollars, accounting for 13% of Qualcomm's total chip revenue, this figure declines, indicating the iPhone 7 Switch to Intel and Qualcomm two companies after the chip on the impact of Qualcomm.
Macquarie Capital estimates that last year Apple paid $ 2.8 billion in royalties to Qualcomm, which accounted for nearly 30 percent of Qualcomm's earnings per share last year, and Apple made it Decided to no longer pay royalties to the iPhone, iPad, affected by this, the manufacturer will no longer pay to Qualcomm.
In early October, Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf said the dispute was fundamentally just a matter of price, but he was optimistic that the two companies would agree. Steve Mollenkopf said: 'For large enterprises, sometimes happen Similar to the dispute, but will not affect the broader relationship.
For Apple, the use of high-pass chips have a certain risk. Semiconductor analysts believe that Intel, MediaTek baseband chip production performance may be better than Qualcomm products, such as download speed. Moor Insights & Strategy analyst Patrick Moorhead example, Qualcomm Processing speed can reach 1Gbps, Intel and MediaTek has yet to prove that their chips have such a fast speed.
Familiar with the Apple procurement process insiders said that in order to take advantage of the negotiations, under normal circumstances, Apple will choose at least two providers to provide key components for the iPhone.For this reason, when purchasing baseband chip, in addition to Intel Apple may also let MediaTek supply.
Apple iPhone shipments of more than 200 million units.If Apple to Intel, MediaTek for future mobile phone supply, the two companies will be in the independent baseband chip market occupies a larger share of the market size of about 50 billion US dollars. Strategy Analytics Of the data show that Qualcomm in the market share of about 50%, MediaTek is about 25%, Intel only 6%.
So far, Intel chips only support two of the earlier generation of mobile standards, Qualcomm chips are supported in order to catch up with Qualcomm, Intel is trying to broaden the product line, Intel introduced a new chip this year, compatible with two standards. Is Intel's first baseband chip that covers all wireless carriers. When does it start shipping? Intel is not disclosed.
Next-generation wireless technology is coming, Qualcomm and Intel is also competing for the next generation of 5G wireless technology leadership.Patrick Moorhead that the use of 5G chip smart phone is expected in 2019 will be large-scale listing, for now, Qualcomm is still leading Such as Intel and other competitors.