Intel Would Like To Return To The Apple Fold In 2015
June 23, 2014
Before Qualcomm, Intel provided Apple with the baseband processors found on the iPhone. Intel would like to do so again beginning in 2015, according to AppleInsider.
On Monday, Timothy Acuri of Cowen and Company told investors that Apple has “re-embraced” Intel, and the two parties are discussing working together on future handsets. These talks, however, might not lead anywhere.
Acuri believes these discussions might be Apple’s way of getting better prices from Qualcomm. In the end, he says Apple is “unlikely to ultimately choose Intel.”
One company that could get the boot from Apple is Broadband, which supplies the company with the Wi-Fi/Bluetooth combo chip found on the iPhone. The analyst says Qualcomm has made “significant strides in his roadmap” in this area. This could put the company in the position to replace Broadcom in the next two years.
The last Apple handset to feature an Intel Infineon baseband chip was the GSM iPhone 4, which arrived in 2010. The CDMA iPhone 4, which launched the following spring, used a Qualcomm baseband chip.
Qualcomm has supplied Apple with baseband processors ever since.
