However, the quiet surface does not mean that the company has no action in the future deployment of 5G, this time is still starting from the chip.

Not long ago, the Wall Street Journal reported thatappleThe company is working withIntelNegotiating the acquisition of the latter's intelligenceMobile phoneBaseband modem chip business, Intel officially announced the news on July 26:

"Intel and Apple have signed an agreement that Apple will acquire most of Intel's smartphone modem business, and approximately 2,200 Intel employees will join Apple, including related intellectual property, equipment and leasing. The transaction is worth $1 billion and is expected to be in 2019. Completed in the fourth quarter, but subject to regulatory approval and other general conditions."

Once this deal is reached, it will undoubtedly give Apple a very significant improvement in the technology accumulation of 5G. As for when Apple will launch its own 5G chip in the future, we will not discuss it much here. Today, let's talk about the things behind the acquisition of the Intel smartphone baseband modem chip business.

The story begins with Apple’s announcement and Qualcomm’s reconciliation.

For a long time, Apple and Qualcomm have been playing a game on patent issues, but in April this year, the two companies announced a settlement agreement and agreed to abandon all litigation worldwide. At this point, the protracted patent war between the two sides has come to an end.

As part of the settlement agreement, Apple agreed to pay Qualcomm a fee (with a report of $4.5 billion) and signed a six-year licensing agreement that includes a two-year license extension and a multi-year chip. Group supply agreement.

For the reconciliation between the two, foreign media believed that Qualcomm was actually on the side of victory, and Apple was more disadvantaged. However, from Apple's point of view, such a result may be the most reasonable result.

On the one hand, after the two reach a settlement, they can be solved very well.iPhoneThe potential threat of being banned, on the other hand, Intel is really slower in the development of 5G-related research and development. It was previously reported that it will be used on mobile phones in 2020, and Qualcomm can cooperate to launch 5G mobile phones that meet market demand faster. .

From these two perspectives, in fact, Apple is not too bad, using "win-win" to describe perhaps more appropriate. However, several happy couples, Apple and Qualcomm return to good, meaning that Intel will lose the most important customers, which also deeply hurt the chip giant.

Almost at the same time, Intel officially announced that the company will withdraw from the 5G smart phone modem business, and will not launch 5G modem products in the future. Of course, the products that were planned to be launched in 2020 will also be revoked.

However, it also mentioned in the statement that this does not mean that the company will abandon the 5G related business, and will continue to invest in its 5G network infrastructure business in the future, but the smart phone will not be touched.

In response to the company's decision, Intel CEO Bob Swan said: "We are very excited about the opportunities offered by 5G, but Intel clearly does not have clear profit opportunities and positive returns in the smartphone modem business. 5G remains the strategic focus of the company, and our team has developed a range of valuable wireless products and intellectual property rights. We are evaluating options that can create value, including opportunities for data-centric platforms and devices in the 5G world. "

To understand, Intel believes that its 5G smartphone modem business will continue to do so. It is difficult to see the hope of profit. If this is the case, it would be better to simply cut down this line of business and turn to other directions that can bring returns to the company. Do your hard work.

Summarizing Intel's withdrawal from the 5G smartphone modem business, the root cause is that Intel is really not working on the development of 5G smart phone modems, and the direct cause of its "disheartened" is that Apple chose to invest in Qualcomm, Intel has no The motivation to continue to work hard.

However, although there is a certain gap between Intel 5G's R&D capability and Qualcomm, it is undeniable that baseband related technologies and patent accumulation are still difficult for many other companies to catch up with.

Although as a supplier, Intel may not meet Apple's requirements, but if the Intel smartphone is transferred to the demodulator business into its own pocket, it is not an exaggeration to describe it with "real incense", which is for the future company in 5G chip. The related research will bring a lot of help.

Looking back at Apple's acquisition of Intel smartphones to the demodulator business, although the whole process is more reasonable, but from the possible outcomes, it seems that "Apple will be an army of Intel."