Apple About to Ditch Intel/Infineon for Next-Gen iPad and iPhone
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About 2 weeks ago, Intel instantly became an iPhone and iPad chip supplier by announcing its acquisition of the wireless unit of Infineon, the exclusive supplier of the iPad and the iPhone’s 3G chips.
However, Apple may have decided to distance itself from Infineon, and may have selected its rival Qualcomm as the wireless chip supplier for the next-gen iPad and iPhone, according to an article published earlier today in the China Times. In other words, Intel’s presence in iOS devices may be short lived.
To keep costs under control, Apple has traditionally used a single vendor for the 3G chips inside the entire iOS family, and currently buys millions of chips from Infineon to keep up with the high demand for iPads and iPhones. The move from Intel/Infineon to Qualcomm could significantly impact Intel’s wireless revenue, and would make the recent purchase of Infineon a lot more sour than expected.
In the meantime, the potential move to Qualcomm is already fueling rumors around the release of a potential Verizon iPhone and/or iPad, as besides being a chip supplier for GSM/UMTS devices, Qualcomm is also the inventor of the technology currently used by Verizon for its 3G CDMA network, and is the main supplier for CDMA chips inside the devices compatible with Verizon’s network. It’s not much of a stretch to imagine that Qualcomm may have offered to build a line of “interchangeable” or “hybrid” chips that would make Apple’s life much easier when it comes to building devices able to run on different networks, such as at&t and Verizon.
