As was rumoured a couple of days ago, Apple has officially signed on a deal to purchase Intel’s 5G smartphone modem business. The deal is valued at $1 billion and is set for completion in the last quarter of the year. This comes months after Intel shut its 5G division and blamed the settlement between Apple and Qualcomm to have been the reason for the same.
The news comes through a press statement from Apple which stated that Apple has signed an agreement with Intel to acquire the majority of the latter’s smartphone modem business. As part of the deal, about 2,200 Intel employees will be joining Apple along with intellectual property, equipment and leases from Intel’s mobile modem division.
As a result, Apple will now hold about 17,000 patents over wireless technology which will range front protocols for cellular standards to modem architecture and modem operations. Apple has stated that Intel will still have the ability to develop modems for non-smartphone applications, such as PCs, internet-of-things devices and autonomous vehicles.
For Apple, Intel’s modem business will mean more in-grown components with the ability to develop and control more features when it releases its iPhones. The deal will also help Apple from fully relying on Qualcomm for 5G technologies in the future as it plans to manufacture its 5G modem and ship them to some of its devices by 2021.
Speaking about the announcement, Apple Hardware Technologies Senior VP, 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. Apple is excited to have so many excellent engineers join our growing cellular technologies group, and know they’ll thrive in Apple’s creative and dynamic environment. They, together with our significant acquisition of innovative IP, will help expedite our development on future products and allow Apple to further differentiate moving forward”.
Intel CEO Bob Swan also commented saying “This agreement enables us to focus on developing technology for the 5G network while retaining critical intellectual property and modem technology that our team has created. We have long respected Apple and we’re confident they provide the right environment for this talented team and these important assets moving forward. 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”.