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This worries me. Wouldn't this leave us with Qualcomm once again the only manafacturer of cellular modems for everyone else? I somehow doubt Apple would keep su
by bpye 7y ago
This worries me. Wouldn't this leave us with Qualcomm once again the only manafacturer of cellular modems for everyone else? I somehow doubt Apple would keep supplying the Intel parts to any other OEMs.
- tolqen 7y agoNobody except Apple bought the Intel parts anyway (possibly because they were absolute flaming garbage relative to Qualcomm’s products), which is why we’re in this position in the first place.
- dnautics 7y agoWasnt ericsson supposed to buy a buncha intel modems?
- StudentStuff 7y agoIIRC that deal was Ericsson fabbing their LTE & 5G basestations on Intel's 10nm process, but Intel's 10nm process can't produce large working chips in volume (and likely never will), which has kneecapped Ericsson as a cellular vendor.
- godzillabrennus 7y agoTIL Ericsson still exists.
- TorKlingberg 7y agoEricsson is one of the biggest vendors of telecom network equipment, including 4G base stations. They sold the phone business to Sony years ago.
- wycy 7y agoI have an iPhone with an Intel modem and can confirm: it is flaming garbage. It's fine in good service areas but in the event of subpar service it basically just craps out entirely. Qualcomm modems seem to handle the same areas just fine.
- wl 7y agoTelit's LE910 series uses Intel parts. For my uses, they've been very nice.
- mcphage 7y ago> Wouldn't this leave us with Qualcomm once again the only manafacturer of cellular modems for everyone else? They already are.
- mschuster91 7y agoI thought Mediatek also did their own modem+cpu combos?
- abbe_k 7y agoThey do. And so does Samsung. I haven't checked but I would be surprised if Huawei didn't have their own modems too.
- yaantc 7y agoYes Huawei too with the Balong modems, through their HiSilicon subsidiary: http://www.hisilicon.com/en/Products/ProductList/Balong http://www.hisilicon.com/en/Products/ProductList/Balong In a few years it could be so that all the tier 1 smartphone vendors have their in-house cellular modem.
- olliej 7y agoEveryone already has to pay a % of the end device whether or not they use Qualcomm parts, regardless of the cost of the device. Because Qualcomm is only interested in “standards” where they are the only provider so get to cut anyone who doesn’t accept their novel interpretation of FRAND
- AnthonyMouse 7y ago> Wouldn't this leave us with Qualcomm once again the only manafacturer of cellular modems for everyone else? I somehow doubt Apple would keep supplying the Intel parts to any other OEMs. This could go either way. Apple is clearly doing this because they want to give Qualcomm the finger. But if they really want to do that then they do sell parts to any other OEM. Most of the devices these radios go in don't actually compete with Apple products. The largest volume is in low end phones and things with radios that aren't even phones, like base stations and smart meters. Apple could sell the chips for commodity prices and make a bit of profit for itself while still undercutting Qualcomm and making them hurt bad in the volume segment of the market where Apple doesn't otherwise compete but where Qualcomm makes a lot of its money.
- ChuckNorris89 7y ago>Apple could sell the chips for commodity prices and make a bit of profit for itself Never gonna happen. You can't just sell the chips, you also need to provide a TON of support to your customers and integrators and in the semiconductor business that's way too much of a hassle for Apple to be worth it. They have much bigger fish to fry.
- benj111 7y agoFrom what I hear about Qualcomm, theres enough companies that would be willing to jump through the hoops to avoid them, as Apple themselves did Intel. They could always set up a joint venture, Apple brings the IP. The partner does the day to day stuff. It doesn't make a lot of sense to be sitting on top of IP and R&D that could be amortised over a much larger number of units.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- wycy 7y agoApple seems like they could be vindictive enough to get into the business of selling their own modems, and to do so at prices that undercut Qualcomm, despite low cost hardware being way outside of their normal business model. Overall, I'd support that.
- kingosticks 7y agoWouldn't this then be a reason for a regulator to block a deal like this? Would Apple have to 'promise' to at least try and sell chips to other OEMs in order to avoid leaving others in a monopoly situation with Qualcomm?
- askvictor 7y agoThe alternative being for Intel to just shutter the division, leaving Qualcomm with a monopoly?
- kingosticks 7y agoI honestly don't know what's better: screwing everyone altogether + Intel job losses, or screwing everyone except another already big fish? A better alternative would be for another interested buyer to appear at the negotiating table, presumably that would require the price to somehow magically come down. Edit: @DannyBee above has already helpfully commented that the FTC has previously required that the buyer continues to sell to / support customers for some time period following the purchase.
- rasz 7y agoNah, Chinese are developing "their own" designs, like http://www.unisoc.com/unisoc-launches-5g-technology-platform-makalu-and-its-first-5g-modem-ivy510 http://www.unisoc.com/unisoc-launches-5g-technology-platform... oh wait, Unisoc is the company Intel shared 5G modem secrets with https://www.scmp.com/tech/science-research/article/2187895/intel-ends-5g-partnership-chinese-government-linked-chip-maker https://www.scmp.com/tech/science-research/article/2187895/i... ...
- DannyBee 7y agoIn mergers/acquisitions like this, what used to happen is that the FTC/etc would require that they continue to sell or support all comers for some period of time. For example, when Google bought ITA, ITA was required to continue licensing the software on "commercially reasonable terms" to other people. See https://www.wired.com/2011/04/google-ita/ https://www.wired.com/2011/04/google-ita/ for an example. Now, whether this will happen in today's FTC/DOJ, no idea. But that is one traditional path here.
- mrweasel 7y agoAs others pointed out, there are other modem manufactures. The interesting bit is whether or not Apple would allow other manufacturers to buy their modems. I don't think it makes a ton of sense for Apple to resell their A-series CPUs, but 4G modems is a little different, they're more generic. If they manage to make good modems why wouldn't they sell them to others? The people buying iPhones won't switch to an Android device, just because it's the same modem.
- londons_explore 7y agoIf apple buys the modem division, they'll be integrating the modem into the SoC. It will be an advanced process node and they won't be scared of using more silicon area to get more performance. By being on the same SoC, they might combine the application and baseband CPU's into one too using something like trustzone. Cheapo android handset makers wouldn't be able to afford the resulting silicon - it'll be too expensive due to the large area. It'll also likely diverge from the way everyone else builds modems - no more AT commands!
- ksec 7y ago>Wouldn't this leave us with Qualcomm once again the only manafacturer of cellular modems for everyone else? Does it matter? 1. Intel aren't selling their modem to anyone else anyway. 2. MediaTek Still supplies Discrete Modem. 3. Apple, Huawei, Samsung are already 50%+ of the market. With Xiaomi, BBK ( Vivo OnePlus Oppo ) going to have their own / shared Modem solution in a few years time. Which combined to ~20% market. There isn't that much of a market left for players other than Qualcomm and Mediatek.