14 DAY TRIAL // The legal fight between Apple and Qualcomm is ready to make another victim: the upcoming iPhone generation will rely solely on Intel modems, which means there’s a chance all modems would be substantially slower than Android flagships running on Qualcomm chips.
This is what Qualcomm’s CFO George Davis said during the Q3 earnings call, revealing that there’s a chance the company would no longer supply modems to Apple, instead leaving Cupertino to bet entirely on Intel.
“We believe Apple intends to solely use our competitor's modems rather than our modems in its next iPhone release,” he was quoted as saying, suggesting that while a decision in this regard hasn’t been made just yet, but there’s a chance Apple would bet all-in on Intel.
Cristiano Amon, the head of Qualcomm's chip business, also suggested that the company may end its collaboration with Apple, but only temporarily, indicating that a possible agreement at a later time is still a thing that they would be willing to do.
“This is a very dynamic industry. If the opportunity presents itself, I think we will be a supplier of Apple,” he explained.
Apple vs. Qualcomm
At this point, Apple’s iPhones use modems from both Intel and Qualcomm. iPhones developed to run on GSM networks are powered by Intel chips, while those on CDMA, like the models sold by Verizon and Sprint, are equipped with a Qualcomm modem.
Unsurprisingly, Qualcomm has recently published stats collected by Ookla, the company that developed the popular Speedtest app for Android and iOS, to show that devices using its modems are faster in terms of download and upload speeds that those using an Intel chip.
Qualcomm and Apple are involved in a series of lawsuits and countersuits over the use of patents, with the chipmaker even requesting a judge to ban the sales of iPhones in the United States. While a decision in this case hasn’t been made just yet, Apple is trying to reduce reliance on Qualcomm, with a full migration to Intel seen as a step towards this goal.