The looming anguish of Apple in its settlement with Qualcomm

Deadly "5G ONLY ON Android"

　These patent disputes are heard in the courts of various countries that filed the lawsuit, and although decisions are made or settlements are reached, the litigation battle between the two companies has also had an impact on the business of the two companies. Intel of the United States became the key player.

　Speaking of Intel, it has an overwhelming share of the CPU of personal computers, but over the past decade, the mainstream of digital products has shifted from personal computers to smartphones. Intel does not just make CPU for personal computers, but deploys a variety of products, but in order to focus on the future and strengthen communication chips, in 2011, it acquired the wireless division of Deying Technology Company and promoted the development of modem chips for mobile communications. By the way, this Infineon modem chip was related to iPhone a long time ago, and it was also used as a modem chip when it first appeared in China in 2009 when iPhone 3G appeared in China.

　Intel has been using Infineon's resources to provide the market with products for the 4G LTE platform. The iPhone XS/XS Max/XR, which will be released in September 2018, will be equipped with modem chips made by Intel rather than Qualcomm. There is no doubt that Apple has been controversial with Qualcomm, but Intel is promoting the development of technologies for the 5G era, such as IoT and Unicom, which, as Apple, is focused on the 5G era and will soon adopt modems made by Intel.

　However, the development of Intel 5G modem is not going well, and sample shipments will be broadcast as soon as they slide in at the end of 2019. IPhone's response to 5G is in jeopardy.

　Qualcomm has shipped the 5G compatible modem "X50", which, combined with existing Snapdragon series that support 2G/3G/4G (such as the current Snapdragon845), has rapidly improved the environment for developing 5G compatible smartphones compatible with existing networks. In the "X55" released in February, 5G modems integrated with 2G/3G/4G modems, combined with chipsets without modems, can develop a wide range of 5G-compatible smartphones. It is reported that sample shipments have also begun, and there will be products on board by the end of 2019.

　Based on this move, this year's MWC19 Barcelona appeared in the form of piercing diving. In recent years, at the MWC held every February in Barcelona, Spain, companies' exhibitions for 5G are very active, while Intel has booths diagonally opposite Qualcomm booths showing colorful solutions to 5G challenges. Qualcomm's somewhat exciting copies with this goal have become a topic again and again. At the end of this year's exhibition, Qualcomm booth commentators wore T-shirts that read "5G ONLY ON Android (5G only Android)".

　As to what this means, please reread MWC19 Barcelona's article. This year's MWC19 Barcelona has installed a 5G network in the venue, and the Qualcomm booth is equipped with 5G modems made by the company, including Sony, Samsung, LG Electronics, ZTE, OPPO, Shaomi, On display are seven 5G-compatible smartphones (some of them prototypes) called OnePlus, which accept 5G radio waves from antennas in the booth. In other words, in the 5G closely watched MWC19 Barcelona, Android smartphones with Qualcomm 5G modems can already connect to the 5G network, while Intel's 5G compatible modems are slow to develop, and it is obvious that the iPhone used in the study cannot use 5G at present. Of course, Google also synchronized Qualcomm's move, posting the same slogan while demonstrating the advantages of the Android platform.

　Now, after 2020, when 5G-compatible products are expected to emerge one after another, Android smartphones are praising 5G support, while others point out whether only iPhone can't cope with 5G and will be left behind. In response to this situation, earlier this month, Qualcomm President Cristiano Amon (Christiano Amon) said in a speech that "we are going to supply 5G modems to Apple." A few days ago, Huawei founder and CEO LenZenfay said about supplying (selling) 5G modems to Apple. According to reports, they answered "it is open" and so on, and they also saw companies in the industry lend a helping hand to Apple, which plans to install 5G modems made by Intel.

　On April 16, Qualcomm and Apple finally announced a full settlement, after which it signed a contract to accept six years of chip supply. The content of the settlement was not detailed, but given the previous environment, it can be speculated that Apple has settled in the form of paying royalties.

　In addition, around this release, Intel announced the end of the development of 5G modems. I don't know if Apple has reached a settlement with Qualcomm because Apple stopped using it, Intel abandoned the development of 5G modems, or Intel abandoned the development of 5G modems, but anyway, both Intel and Apple were forced to change course.