In Feb this year, there were rumors that Apple is all set to acquire a business unit of Intel to strengthen its stand on 5G network transformations around the world. And as speculated, Apple Inc made an official announcement early today which states that it has acquired Intel’s Smartphone Modem business for $1 billion.
If history is taken into account, Apple and Intel’s latest deal can be termed as a most high profile deal in recent times i.e in the past months.
Apple has also included in its statement that approximately 2,200 of Intel employees will be joining Apple’s business along with the customers, leases and intellectual property along with wholesome equipment produced till date.
What Apple deal of Intel means to the iPhone users and the world?
1. Well, its crystal clear that Apple is all set to hold wireless technology patents of over 17,000 from Intel which includes official rights related to cellular standards, modem operations & architecture.
2. Intel has cleared the air that it still holds modem development rights for non-smartphone applications such as PCs, IoT devices and autonomous vehicles.
3. Apple will launch its first 5G phone in 2020 with Intel architecture embedded in it.
4. Apple will be using Intel’s technology to induce special features into its iconic A12 Bionic processor.
5. Apple will design its processors for iPhones and iPads and will induct Intel’s modem architecture into its System-on-a-Chip(SoC) architecture.
6. Apple will offer iPhones and iPads with unique features which will help the device maker take an edge over Android smart phones in business.
7. As Apple will make its modems, it will have more control over its products.
8. Apple’s reliance on Qualcomm will reduce as its newly acquired technology from Intel will lead the pack.
9. As Apple has indirectly declared that it is going to enter 5G mobile business in near future, its competitors like Huawei might find it hard in capturing the market of west.
10. Apple is working on its modems since 2017. But those devices will reportedly be ready only by 2025. Till then Intel’s business acquisition will prove fruitful.
Note 1- A modem is a device that converts data into a format suitable to be transmitted via a medium so that two devices can communicate with each other. Means a modem modulates one or more carrier wave signals to encode digital info for transmission and demodulates signals to decode the transmitted data.
Note 2- A router is a hardware device which sits between your internet connection and your private network and helps your devices like smartphones, laptops and other IoT communicate with each other.
