Apple Buys Intel’s Smartphone Modem Business for $1 Billion

[Tsing]

Apple has agreed to acquire the majority of Intel's smartphone model business in a deal valued at $1 billion. Approximately 2,200 Intel employees will join Apple, along with intellectual property, equipment, and leases when the transaction closes later this year.

When all is said and done, Apple will hold over 17,000 wireless technology patents, "ranging from protocols for cellular standards to modem architecture and modem operation." Intel will continue to develop modems for PCs, IoT devices, autonomous vehicles, and other non-smartphone devices.

“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,” said Intel CEO Bob Swan. “We have long respected Apple and we’re confident they provide the right environment for this talented team and these important assets moving forward."

 

[Brian_B]

Makes me think this was Apple's end game the entire time.. maybe not this exact turn of events, but... get some competition to Qualcomm, sign some agreement with Qualcomm which drops the bottom out of the competition, swoop in and buy out competition for a firesale price.

$1B sounds like a lot, but Qualcomm is worth almost 100x that figure, and Apple generates 30x that figure annually on iPhones alone.

 

[Strelok]

It'll be about 5 years before their deal with Qualcomm is up, just enough time to make Intel's former modem business into something useful/competitive!

 

[northrop]

Motorola -> Google -> Intel -> Apple... all those people working on modems have a hell of a resume by now