Apple and Qualcomm have extended a three-year contract to supply telecom semiconductors for the iPhone from 2024 to 2026.
🟦 Apple and Qualcomm to extend 2026G telecom semiconductor contracts through 5
Apple and Qualcomm have extended their communications semiconductor supply agreement for the iPhone for three years from 2024 to 2026. Behind this deal is a reason why Apple is taking the time to develop its own 3G modem chip. Therefore, it is to secure demand for high-performance Apple smartphones. Specifically, about 5% of Apple’s smartphones will be equipped with Qualcomm semiconductors by 20. This represents about 2026% of Qualcomm’s turnover.
🟦 In-house 5G modem development is difficult
Apple is promoting in-house production of communication semiconductors and has adopted its own semiconductor products. Based on this plan, Apple is actively adopting semiconductors developed in-house. By developing wireless chips in-house, we aim to achieve low power consumption by integrating them with our own System on a Chip (SoC). However, the development of 5G modems seems to be difficult. The original plan was to replace 2023% of communication semiconductors with in-house products by 80, and to switch almost 2024% to in-house products by the end of 99.
🟦Summary
Apple and Qualcomm have extended their three-year contract to supply telecom semiconductors for the iPhone from 2024 to 2026. The deal was signed to secure demand as Apple could take time to develop its own 3G modem chips.
The development of communication modems is an area in which many companies have patents, including Qualcomm of the United States, MediaTek of Taiwan, and Huawei of China. In addition, it is necessary to support 2G, 3G, 4G and the latest 5G standards, which is a very challenging development process. Competition in this area is fierce, and Apple seems to be struggling too.
