Josh OngThe Commercial Times reported (Google translation) earlier this week that Infineon will not provide the baseband chip for the fifth-generation iPhone. Infineon's wireless unit was sold to Intel for $1.4 billion in August.
According to the report, the next-generation Apple smartphone, which is expected next year, will still be manufactured by the Hon Hai Group and Foxconn, and will include a Qualcomm baseband chip this time around.
A move away from Infineon would break with precedent. Infineon has supplied Apple with the baseband chip for the iPad 3G and all of the Cupertino, Calif., company's iPhone models since the smartphone was first released in 2007.
There has been little indication of trouble in the relationship between Infineon and Apple. After the Intel-Infineon deal, Intel CEO Paul Otellini told Fox Business that Apple CEO Steve Jobs was "very happy" with it.
On the other hand, relations between Apple and Intel have been tense as of late. Otellini made comments earlier this week criticizing the newly released Apple TV as a "step backward," especially when compared to the Intel-powered Google TV products set to be released this month.
A Qualcomm broadband chip would match rumors that Apple is developing a CDMA iPhone. Qualcomm invented the now widely-used CDMA technology. A cryptic "iPhone developer guru" job posting on the Qualcomm website in August claimed that respondents would work on "the most challenging product" of their lives.
Several analysts see a switch to Qualcomm by Apple as the right move. In light of the Intel-Infineon deal, "Apple may want to diversify its supplier base to reduce dependency on a single supplier," said Manikandan Raman with the Motley Fool.
With a dominant 69 percent share of the CDMA mobile phone chipset market, Qualcomm would be the "logical choice" to help Apple expand to other networks, said Barclays Capital analyst Andrew Gardiner. "Infineon's wireless unit doesn't offer chips for CDMA technology."
Charles Martin
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54 Comments
Steve Jobs is happy that Intel bought Infineon, but according to this unconfirmed report, apple may soon abandon Intel's Infineon chips for the next generation iphone? am i missing something?
I saw this coming. We might see Apple buy Qualcomm too.
I doubt it is one or the other. They may use Infineon for AT&T and Qualcomm for Verizon. Intel will still have the larger slice of the pie because GSM is more popular worldwide. If Qualcomm managed to make a "world" chip, things might be different though.
While the report makes it sound like Apple is leaving Infineon as a result of the Intel buyout, it was probably going to happen anyway. Qualcomm has a combo chip capable of both GSM and CDMA use. Assuming Apple doesn't want to fragment it's handset market by introducing a separate CDMA-only phone, and assuming that a two-chip solution is out of the question, AND assuming that Apple does indeed want to get into CDMA carriers, then we are left to ASSUME that they are going with Qualcomm because Qualcomm has the tech that Apple needs. Therefore, Intel's buyout of Infineon really has no significant bearing on the issue.
First off iPhone 5 has been in development for some time by now.
Second even if Apple use the qualcom hardware in iPone5 the still have other products using 3G.
Third there is no reason for Apple to create bad blood with Intel. Sure Intel has been very stupid of late with their policies but you deal with that by buying AMD chips.