Apple poached Intel’s head for 5G ahead of its truce with Qualcomm

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We speculate that a part of why Intel gave up on 5G was because Apple and Qualcomm’s truce. But it seems there might be one more thing to add to that. Weeks before the said settlement, Apple poached Intel’s 5G modem head Umashankar Thyagarajan. His departure wasn’t exactly a secret. But he was, according to the Telegraph, the project engineer for the XMM 8160 chipset, which was at the heart of Intel’s 5G plans. And he “played a key role” in the creation of the Intel modems in the iPhone XS and XR.

Intel and Apple are not commenting on the report. And it isn’t clear what his role in Apple is, apart from it being described as “Architecture” on his LinkedIn page. But we expect he is working on wireless chipset design for Apple. Apple has in the past said it wanted to make its own cellular chipsets, so we aren’t as surprised about the hire as we should be.

Intel to bow out of smartphone-modem business

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With Apple and Qualcomm working out its differences and settling their lawsuits, Intel is effectively out of the picture. And now that it isn’t developing its 5G chipsets, it seems the company wants out of its smartphone-modem business as well. Apple was considering buying part of Intel’s modem ventures, but that deal was stopped short when Apple and Qualcomm signed a multi-year chipset-supply deal. That doesn’t mean the company hasn’t expressed interest in buying this segment from Intel. According to The Wall Street Journal, a few other companies are looking at buying said business. Goldman Sachs is helping Intel facilitate negotiations. The deal is most likely worth a few billion dollars, but it’s in its early stages for now. The company is reportedly losing around US$1 billion annually because of its modem business, so the sale could include staff, patents, and modem designs across multiple technology generaitons.

Apple and Qualcomm announce surprise settlement

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In an unexpected move, Apple and Qualcomm have reached a settlement and agreed to drop all ongoing lawsuits, which have spanned the globe and started at least a couple years back. Apple will also pay Qualcomm an undisclosed amount and the two have reached a six-year global patent licensing deal that extends for another two years. Qualcomm will also supply parts to Apple for multiple years, which as The Verge suggests could mean we'll see Qualcomm modems in the iPhone again. 

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Apple claims Qualcomm didn’t want to sell its chips for the current iPhones

According to Apple, the iPhone XR, XS, and XS Max couldn't get Qualcomm chips because the chip maker wouldn't sell it to them

Qualcomm is currently on trial against the US Federal Trade Commission in California with the former facing charges that accuse them of engaging in monopolistic practices. At the trial, it’s being brought to light what happened between the chip maker and Apple. Apple’s Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams said in a testimony to the US Federal Trade Commission that Qualcomm refused to sell them chips after Apple sued them over its licensing practices. At first glance, it seems Apple switched exclusively to Intel modems for competitive reasons—or even out of spite—but according to Williams’ testimony, there were plans to use both Qualcomm and Intel chips, but the former refused to sell to them. And we heard about how much Apple had to pay Qualcomm for its modems. According to Williams, it was US$7.50 per device, which is five times more than the $1.50 it wanted to pay. But Williams said they paid because they needed the chips and they “didn’t have a lot of options.”

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