7.2 billion signed with Qualcomm, and the era of monopoly was extended for another 3 years!
As we all know, Qualcomm used to be the overlord of the industry, although MediaTek and Kirin have suppressed its chip market, but Qualcomm's strength should not be underestimated. In this case, it is not easy to get rid of the dependence on Qualcomm.
If you look closely, there have been people who have been saying that Qualcomm chips are going to be abandoned as early as a few years ago, but as time goes on, this rumor has become less and less. The reason is that it is not easy to develop independent chips, and even some domestic mobile phone manufacturers no longer produce their own chips.
However, the fact that domestic manufacturers have abandoned the idea of abandoning Qualcomm does not mean that other manufacturers will not give up. Apple is one of them, and it will offer Qualcomm 5G baseband for its phones from 2019.
Apple has announced that it will develop a 5G baseband chip to get rid of its dependence on Qualcomm. In addition, Apple has spent 1 billion yuan (about 7.2 billion rupees) to acquire Intel's baseband chip business. Many speculate that Apple wants to wean itself off Qualcomm because it is unwilling to pay Qualcomm huge royalties.
In any case, Apple began to develop its own baseband chips. coincided with the patent dispute between Qualcomm and Apple, and I thought that Apple would accelerate research and development in a fit of anger and completely erase Qualcomm's shadow. However, what I didn't expect was that this year's iPhone 15 was long overdue.
Not only that, but Qualcomm also announced the news some time ago.
Qualcomm has announced that it has reached an agreement with Apple to extend the 5G baseband agreement until 2027. This means that the era of Qualcomm providing Apple exclusively with 5G baseband will be extended for another three years. In these three years, it has obviously been difficult for Apple to launch its own baseband chips. Seven years after buying Intel for $7.2 billion, Apple still hasn't launched any products.
This makes many people wonder, why can't Apple achieve 5G baseband with such strong R&D capabilities?
As the author says, the acquisition of Intel's relevant departments was a failure. Not only because they didn't do anything, but more importantly, the turnover rate of engineers after the acquisition was very high, which meant that they didn't get much benefit from it. In addition, even if they do, it will not be easy to hack: after all, Intel has always been known for its baseband technology, which is why Apple will continue to buy from Qualcomm.
In addition, Apple cannot ignore Qualcomm's first patents. If it wants to develop independently, if it wants to get rid of Qualcomm, it must circumvent Qualcomm's patents. Qualcomm already has a huge technological advantage, and it will be much harder for Apple to bypass it. So, naturally, they are not yet aware of it. However, Apple has developed its own **chain. In the 5G baseband field, why would it prefer Qualcomm's exclusive vendors over diversified vendors such as Huawei?
If so, do you think Apple will continue to develop a 5G baseband? Please leave us a message, like and share it here.