Intel announces the sale of the smartphone modem business

Intel announces the sale of the smartphone modem business

Intel has announced that it has completed the sale of most of its smartphone modem business to Apple for $ 1 billion following regulatory approval. The transaction was announced for the first time in July and includes intellectual property, equipment and approximately 2,200 Intel employees who will join Apple.

The agreement requires Apple to acquire a broad portfolio of wireless patents from Intel. Apple now holds over 17,000 wireless technology patents , ranging from cellular standard protocols to modem architecture and modem operation.

Intel will retain the ability to develop modems for non-smartphone applications, such as PCs, Internet-of-things devices and autonomous vehicles.

Last week, Intel admitted to selling its smartphone modem business to Apple with ” a multi-billion dollar loss ,” according to court documents discovered by Reuters. Intel added that competitor licensing practices by Qualcomm have ” strangled the competition ” and forced it to exit the market.

Apple is expected to use Qualcomm modems for its first 5G-enabled iPhones next year as part of a six-year licensing agreement between the companies. For the future, numerous reports have stated that Apple plans to develop its own iPhone modems by 2022-23, and the Intel deal will surely help those efforts.