Apple and Intel have come to an agreement that will see the Cupertino-based tech titan acquire Intel’s smartphone modem business, which is valued at $1 billion. The deal is expected to conclude in the Q4, 2019.
This deal will see 2200 Intel employees join the ranks at Apple and will increase the total number of the iPhone makers wireless technology patents to 17,000, which range from cellular standard protocols, modem architecture and operation.
The deal will only transfer Intel’s smartphone modem business to Apple and the chipmaker will retain their modem technology for PCs, IoT devices, autonomous vehicles and any other non-smartphone applications.
“Apple is excited to have so many excellent engineers join our growing cellular technologies group, and know they’ll thrive in Apple’s creative and dynamic environment. They, together with our significant acquisition of innovative IP, will help expedite our development on future products and allow Apple to further differentiate moving forward,” said Johny Srouji, Apple’s senior vice president of Hardware Technologies
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Intel’s struggling smartphone chipset business, which was cancelled earlier this year by CEO Bob Swan due to the delay in manufacturing 5G chips for Apple’s 2020 lineup, has seen a new lease on life with Apple’s acquisition.
“We have long respected Apple and we’re confident they provide the right environment for this talented team and these important assets moving forward. We’re looking forward to putting our full effort into 5G where it most closely aligns with the needs of our global customer base, including network operators, telecommunications equipment manufacturers and cloud service providers,” said Bob Swan, CEO, Intel.
Earlier this year, Apple and Qualcomm settled their dispute in court with the former agreeing to pay an undisclosed fee for a six-year agreement. According to the license deal, Qualcomm has to supply Apple with chips for their iPhones for the specified duration of the deal but this acquisition might change things for Qualcomm. Neither of the companies has come forward explaining what’s going to happen with their license agreement yet.
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