Apple Is Building Its Own Modem, Plays Long Game in Dropping Qualcomm
Apple is shifting from Qualcomm modem chips to enhance technological independence, developing a tabletop robot, and allowing third-party access to its payment chip, while iPhone 16 sales remain stable.
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Apple is transitioning away from Qualcomm modem chips, a move that may not yield immediate benefits but is expected to position the company for future advancements. This strategy reflects Apple's long-term vision as it seeks to enhance its technological independence and capabilities. The company is also reportedly developing a tabletop robot and plans to allow third-party access to its iPhone payment chip. Meanwhile, the upcoming iPhone 16 is anticipated to maintain stable sales until more significant innovations are introduced.
- Apple is moving away from Qualcomm modems to enhance technological independence.
- The transition may not provide immediate benefits but is aimed at future advancements.
- Apple is developing a tabletop robot and opening its payment chip to third parties.
- The iPhone 16 is expected to sustain sales until more significant changes are implemented.
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5 commentsQualcomm is hardly cheap, but per-phone it's also hardly expensive. At one remove, this is a fight between two dogs with no up or downside for me as a consumer because in all likelihood Apple will keep prices high: It's seeking to reduce cost, not price.
If somebody has evidence the cost of Qualcomm IPR has influenced Apple pricing and we can expect a price drop, I'd love to understand it.
Moving upstream, is Apple going to take over the Qualcomm research function and start owning the IPR behind encoding and RF technology?
Wouldn't buying qualcomm have achieved the same outcome? Buying their IPR wholesale instead of retail? Thats what Google did with Motorola: bought the entire box, kept the three pokemon cards it liked (the retained IPR, a small amount), and sold the rest to Lenovo.
IIRC they did this as recently as last year. (Sorry if the article goes into this, I got paywalled)
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