Official - Apple Buys Intel’s 5G Modem Business for $1 Billion - Android

Apple has been looking for an opportunity to lessen its dependence on Qualcomm for chipsets, especially after their back to… Read More

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Apple has been looking for an opportunity to lessen its dependence on Qualcomm for chipsets, especially after their back to back legal disputes.

In the meantime, Apple shifted to Intel’s chipset but after Apple’s settlement with Qualcomm, Intel did not see a future in the 5G modem industry and decided to sell off the business. Rumors of Apple buying the 5G modem business started flying, little did we know it was all true.

Anyhow, both the companies disclosed the news of acquisition yesterday. Apple’s Senior Vice President of Hardware Technologies, Johny Srouji, said:

We’ve worked with Intel for many years and know this team shares Apple’s passion for designing technologies that deliver the world’s best experiences for our users. Together with our significant acquisition of innovative [intellectual property], will help expedite our development on future products and allow Apple to further differentiate moving forward.

Apple will pay $1 billion for the acquisition and the deal is expected to close in the last quarter of 2019. Once the acquisition is complete, around 2200 Intel employees, which mostly consist of engineers, will join Apple. On top of this, all the Intel leases, property, equipment and 17,000 wireless technology patents will also be handed over to Cupertino.

Getting access to Intel’s 5G technology will give the Cupertino a head start in its efforts to make chipsets of its own. The company is looking for self-sufficiency and there was nothing better than acquiring Intel’s business that Apple could do to achieve its goal.

Intel CEO, Bob Swan, said in a statement, “We’re looking forward to putting our full effort into 5G where it most closely aligns with the needs of our global customer base, including network operators, telecommunications equipment manufacturers and cloud service providers.”

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