Fifth-Generation iPhone to Drop Infineon’s Silicon, Sources Say

Citing various reports, including a Google-translated piece by the Commercial Times, AppleInsider informs that the next iPhone is likely to do away with an Infineon baseband chip, in favor of a silicon from Qualcomm, thus corroborating rumors of a CDMA-capable device.

The report by Commercial Times reveals that Infineon will no longer provide the baseband chip for a fifth-generation iPhone, in the wake of Intel buying Infineon's wireless unit for $1.4 billion last month.

Apple’s next-generation smartphone is expected next year, the report says. It will manufactured by Foxconn, the same line of factories assembling current-generation Apple smartphones.

Hon Hai Group is also contracted for work on the iPhone 5, according to the AppleInsider report, which specifically notes that a Qualcomm baseband chip will be incorporated this time around.

The move would be a significant one, as Infineon has been the supplier of baseband chips for the iPad 3G and all of Apple’s iPhones since the introduction of the first-generation model in 2007.

And while there has been little indication of growing tension between the Infineon and Apple, it is known that Steve Jobs was “very happy” with learning that Intel had aquired the chip maker.

The Apple-focused site appropriately points out that it is actually Intel that that has differences to iron out with Apple.

As such, Apple has yet another reason to adopt a Qualcomm broadband chip which, coincidentally, would also match rumors that Apple is coming up with an iPhone based on the CDMA standard.

As reported by Softpedia last month, Qualcomm is responsible with building the first CDMA cellular base station in the early '90s. The company has quite the know-how in the field, we noted in August.

At the time, a corporate engineering opening at Qualcomm had been spotted online. The job posting for iPhone Developer Guru fueled rumors that Apple’s had plans to launch a CDMA-capable iPhone through Verizon.

The job description claimed that recruits would would work on "the most challenging product" of their lives.

For those who are interested, the spot was still vacant at the time of this writing.

Finally, a couple of analysts’ opinions are included in the AppleInsider report, with Motley Fool’s Manikandan Raman noting that "Apple may want to diversify its supplier base to reduce dependency on a single supplier."

Barclays Capital analyst Andrew Gardiner, for his part, said that Qualcomm would be the "logical choice" to help Apple expand to other networks, since it owns 69 of the CDMA mobile phone chipset market.