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Here's a simplistic review of what happened over the last few years, please comment if you disagree:
1. Qualcomm got greedy. Many lawsuits between Apple and Qualcomm resulted (160+ worldwide!)
2. Apple turned to Intel to get Qualcomm off the BoM.
3. Intel failed to deliver. Apple lets nothing stand in the way of the product roadmap, so they wrote Qualcomm a check for $5Billion to settle and move on.
4. Apple bought the patent portfolio and most importantly the engineering team from Intel to create their own 5G future.
So if we jump 5 years into the future, we'll see 5G-enabled smartphones, tablets and laptops from Apple with:
Usually when Apple decides to take something previously outsourced and do it in-house there is a major power or performance advantage (custom CPU + GPU + Power Management) but on the modem side this is less likely. If Intel couldn't match Qualcomm before, I doubt they can under Apple. However, Apple licensing Qualcomm's patents in April might change the story. If Intel failed by trying to work around those patents, maybe Apple can succeed in making a competitive modem now that they have Qualcomm's "blessing." Even if it ends up being subpar, maybe this is one of those components where "good enough" is acceptable. The cost savings alone (>$10/unit) will be worth it.)
Apple will put the modem on the SoC is my bet. Cost savings would be significant and it wouldn't have to be the best modem on the market because they are Apple.
Usually when Apple decides to take something previously outsourced and do it in-house there is a major power or performance advantage (custom CPU + GPU + Power Management) but on the modem side this is less likely. If Intel couldn't match Qualcomm before, I doubt they can under Apple. However, Apple licensing Qualcomm's patents in April might change the story. If Intel failed by trying to work around those patents, maybe Apple can succeed in making a competitive modem now that they have Qualcomm's "blessing." Even if it ends up being subpar, maybe this is one of those components where "good enough" is acceptable. The cost savings alone (>$10/unit) will be worth it.)
Wouldnt they still need to pay royalty for the main patents from Qcom ? I feel Instead of focusing on product differentiation, Apple is loosing direction.
Apple will put the modem on the SoC is my bet. Cost savings would be significant and it wouldn't have to be the best modem on the market because they are Apple.
Wouldnt they still need to pay royalty for the main patents from Qcom ? I feel Instead of focusing on product differentiation, Apple is loosing direction.
Yes but paying royalties to Qualcomm is cheaper than buying its modems. Just like the cost+performance advantage of licensing ARM's instruction set and designing your own SoC compared to buy one from another vendor.
Apple will put the modem on the SoC is my bet. Cost savings would be significant and it wouldn't have to be the best modem on the market because they are Apple.
I think that's a given. The power+cost advantage of integrating it into the SoC is the main reason to design your own modem, otherwise it's probably better to just pay the extra $10-15 per unit to Qualcomm or even Samsung if cost saving at inferior performance is what they're after.
I look forward to seeing the result of this in 2022!
I also hope Samsung and Mediatek do a decent job competing against Qualcomm, to the point that they can offer discrete solutions to other vendors. If Intel couldn't this is unlikely but we need competition in the modem space.
Yes but paying royalties to Qualcomm is cheaper than buying its modems. Just like the cost+performance advantage of licensing ARM's instruction set and designing your own SoC compared to buy one from another vendor.
Curious what would a custom designed modem in SoC differentitate from other market available options other than cost ? Would Apple reduce price of iphone when custom built modem is included ? Historically iphone prices have never seen reducing moving to next generation. But CPU/ GPU/ power management IC designing inhouse would definitely help in improved user experience co designing HW/SW. How does modem help is my question ?
Apple historically hasn't designed for lower cost. Adding the modem to another SoC reduces chip count, allowing either smaller products or more functionality in the same size product. They've already started down this path with the M and T coprocessors. Samsung will be challenged to keep up with this integration; no other vendors will be able to come close.
