Apple has plans to begin using its own custom-designed 5G baseline chip in the iPhone as soon as 2023. This means Apple will no longer need to rely on Qualcomm for its 5G connectivity, says well-connected analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
That bit of information comes from an investors note shared by MacRumors.
Kuo says Apple plans to include its own custom-designed 5G baseband chip starting with the launch of the 2023 iPhones “at the earliest.” Kuo also discusses how Qualcomm will be forced to enter new markets to compensate for the loss of orders from Apple.
We predict that the iPhone will adopt Apple’s own design 5G baseband chips in 2023 at the earliest. As Android sales in the high-end 5G phone market are sluggish, Qualcomm will be forced to compete for more orders in the low-end market to compensate for Apple’s order loss. When the supply constraints improve, MediaTek and Qualcomm will have less bargaining power over brands, resulting in significantly higher competitive pressure in the mid-to low- end market.
Apple’s development of its own 5G modem, which reportedly kicked off in early 2020, has been widely reported.
Apple in July 2019 purchased the majority of Intel’s smartphone modem business. The transaction was valued at $1 billion Apple said at the time that the purchase will “help expedite our development on future products and allow Apple to further differentiate moving forward.”
