Giving Up or Persistence Qualcomm? There is Forks in the Road!

By Carrie Tsai,  Last Updated: January 24, 2019

Last time we talked about Qualcomm and Apple's patent disputes and patent licensing fees, let us discuss 5G band issue of iPhone in this article.

According to reports, Apple's supply chain executives said in a trial of Qualcomm's antitrust case that Apple is considering that the iPhone in 2019 will use 5G modem chips from Samsung Electronics, MediaTek and Intel.

In the current form, Apple's next-generation iPhone will give up Qualcomm's baseband chips, and the possibility of turning to Intel, Samsung, and MediaTek is still quite high.

So that if Apple gives up Qualcomm, Samsung, MediaTek, Intel who is likely to become the supplier of baseband chips for the new generation of iPhone?

Let's take a look at Samsung. At present, Samsung's baseband chips are basically self-use, and Apple and Samsung have been fighting patents for so many years. The competition can be quite fierce. However, the recent strategic cooperation between Apple and Samsung on smart TV and TV content has also broken the long-standing stalemate. As for Samsung's band chips, Samsung should be more cautious because of the patent issues involved and the competition for mobile phones.

Second one is Intel. Intel has been a supplier of Apple's baseband chips. However, many users spoke poor iPhone signal is related to the use of Intel baseband, but as for the Intel 5G chip, you have to look at the effectiveness of this year's Intel 5G chip test. However, Intel should still be an important supplier of Apple's baseband chips.

MediaTek, its first 5G baseband chip Helio M70, the overall effect is not bad, there have been news that MediaTek introduced talents, the purpose is to win the iPhone baseband chip orders. If it is true, MediaTek does have a high probability of becoming an important supplier of Apple's baseband chips.

MediaTek, its first 5G baseband chip Helio M70, the overall effect is not bad, there have been news that MediaTek introduced talents, the purpose is to win the iPhone baseband chip orders. If it is true, MediaTek does have a high probability of becoming an important supplier of Apple's baseband chips.