Oliver Haslam on April 23, 2019, 1:33 am

Report: 2020 iPhone 5G Modems To Be Provided By Qualcomm And Samsung

Apple’s 2020 lineup of iPhones will support 5G networks thanks to 5G chips from two suppliers, one of which will be Qualcomm according to renowned Apple analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo.

This is apparently based on the news that Apple and Qualcomm have both settled their differences rather than go to court over perceived patent violations, and it’s pretty clear to everyone that 5G chips were part of the deal that the two companies came up with.

Given Intel’s decision to remove itself from the 5G smartphone chip market, Kuo believes that Samsung will join Qualcomm in providing the required chips to Apple.

In a memo that was obtained by MacRumors, Kuo explains that there was concern citing the recent exit of Intel from the 5G smartphone chip-making business, but the equally-recent settlement between Apple and Qualcomm has alleviated such concerns. Kuo also goes on to suggest that Samsung will be approached for 5G chips for Apple’s iOS-powered smartphones.

An excerpt from the memo can be read below:

Apple and Qualcomm’s end of patent dispute and entrance into a six-year licensing deal implies new 2H20 iPhone models will support 5G; Qualcomm and Samsung are potential 5G baseband chip suppliers: The market was worried that Intel’s disappointing 5G baseband chip development might be the most severe uncertainty for the new 2H20 iPhone models’ adoption of 5G. But we believe the uncertainty has been removed after Apple and Qualcomm’s end of patent dispute and entrance into a six-year licensing deal, and Intel’s announcement that it will exit the 5G baseband chip business. We expect Apple will likely adopt 5G baseband chips made by Qualcomm (focus on mmWave markets) and Samsung (focus on Sub-6GHz markets) for lowering supply risk, reducing costs and having better bargaining power.

While 5G will not be ready for the 2019 iPhones, 5G is still a feature that Kuo expects to be a popular one when it does arrive next year, with shipments of up to 200 units in 2020. Around 75 million of those are expected to be a 5G handset.

(Source: MacRumors)