Today, as we have reported, Apple and Qualcomm have reached an agreement and have settled all disputes that have been going on in various courts around the world. Undoubtedly, a big incentive for Apple to take such action was its relationship with Intel, which was shaken by accounts of the chip maker's alleged delays in being able to deliver a capable 5G modem, with the specifications required by Ma.
Well, we can take this "assumption" out of the sentence above, because now we have concrete evidence that things were not good: in a press release, the Intel He said today he is leaving the 5G smartphone modem market and focusing his efforts on 5G technology for network infrastructure and other opportunities involving data.
The company will continue to manufacture 4G modems for smartphones, meeting demand from its current partners, but will not invest more in a 5G production line for launches that were planned for 2020.
"We are very excited about the 5G opportunity and the 'clouding' of the network, but in the modem business for smartphones it is clear that there is no clear path to profitability and positive returns," said Intel CEO Bob Swan. 5G remains a strategic priority throughout Intel, and our team has developed a valuable portfolio of wireless and intellectual property products. We are evaluating our options to realize the value we create, including opportunities across a wide variety of data-centric platforms and devices in a 5G world.
Intel will talk more about it at the event (a conference call) scheduled to release the financial results of its last fiscal quarter, which takes place on April 25th.
The question now is whether Intel has given up on the smartphone 5G modem market and Apple has been forced to move closer to Qualcomm (as it apparently did not want to close deals with Samsung, MediaTek, Huawei and the company.) ); or was it Apple's deal with Qualcomm that made Intel jump out of that market?
In particular, I think Intel made the decision first and Apple found itself at a crossroads. But the fact that the order of factors does not change the product.
