Anyone who has used iPhone knows that the biggest problem with iPhone is poor signal. Other mobile phones on the subway are having fun watching videos and playing games, while iPhone users can only stare at their phones in silence...
Famous analyst Ming-Chi Kuo posted on Twitter, the content of which is to this effect: Apple develops its own 5G chip Failure, the 2023 iPhone will continue to use Qualcomm baseband chips.
As soon as the news came out, it immediately ranked third on the Weibo hot list.
The baseband chip is the nerve center of a smartphone and determines the call quality and data transmission speed of the phone. Without a baseband chip, a mobile phone cannot generate & analyze signals and cannot implement communication network functions.
Looking around the world, there are currently only four companies that master 5G baseband, namely Qualcomm, Huawei, MediaTek and Samsung.
The research and development of baseband chips is very difficult, mainly because communication technology is a technology that requires long-term accumulation. 5G baseband chips must not only meet the existing 5G standards, but also be backward compatible with 4G, 3G, 2G, etc. A communication protocol.
As powerful as Apple, on the surface, the A-series chips outperform the Snapdragon chips of the same period, but behind the scenes, they have to follow the Qualcomm agreement and continue to use the Snapdragon baseband.
Apple wants to get rid of Qualcomm because Qualcomm’s 5G patent fees are too high and the charging method is very overbearing. Qualcomm and Apple signed an agreement together, and the general content is: iPhones after 2013 can only use Qualcomm baseband, and Qualcomm pays Apple an exclusivity fee of US$1 billion every year. But as iPhone sales got better and better, Apple became dissatisfied.
Because although Qualcomm pays an exclusivity fee of US$1 billion per year, Qualcomm charges a 5% patent licensing fee for each iPhone. It includes communication patents from 2G to 4G, plus the cost of purchasing baseband chips. Apple has to pay Qualcomm billions of dollars a year.
The most important thing is that as the price of iPhone increases, the money Apple pays Qualcomm every year also increases. But Qualcomm only needs to pay US$1 billion per year in the agreement, and Apple is unhappy.
So Apple introduced Intel baseband on iPhone7 in 2016. Qualcomm stopped exclusivity fees of US$1 billion, and Apple did not pay Qualcomm’s patent licensing fees for that year.
However, iPhones that use Intel baseband have been criticized by users for "slow signal performance". According to media tests, the signal of the Qualcomm baseband version of the iPhone is more than 30% stronger than the Intel version of the iPhone. When Intel failed to do its job, Apple tried to file a global lawsuit against Qualcomm, accusing Qualcomm of overcharging for its chip products. Qualcomm then launched a countersuit.
Finally, Qualcomm directly refused to provide baseband chips for the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and iPhone XR series. Veterans of the signal quality of these generations of iPhones also know... Without core baseband technology, Apple has no choice but to be soft. In 2019, Apple announced a major event that shocked the technology world: its settlement with Qualcomm. The settlement agreement also includes a $506 billion settlement fee from Apple to Qualcomm, as well as a chipset supply agreement. Since then, starting with the iPhone12 series, Apple has returned to Qualcomm and used 5G.
Although it made peace with Qualcomm, it also strengthened Apple’s determination to develop its own baseband chips.
With a heavy investment of US$1 billion, it acquired Intel's mobile modem business, approximately 2,200 engineers, related IP, etc. Since then, Apple has embarked on the path of self-developed 5G baseband chips.
Ming-Chi Kuo said that although Apple’s progress in developing its own 5G chips is currently hindered, Apple will continue to develop its own 5G chips, which may take another 2-3 years of research and development.
The feud between Apple and Qualcomm also illustrates one thing: money can buy many things, but without your own technology, you will always be controlled by others. Huawei: I understand this question.