SAN FRANCISCO—Qualcomm Inc. has snagged the baseband socket on the next Apple Inc. iPhone, displacing Intel Corp., according to Craig Berger, an analyst with FBR Capital Markets Corp.
Rumors have been circulating since last year that Qualcomm be the baseband supplier to iPhone 5. The incumbent iPhone baseband supplier was the Infineon wireless unit, which was acquired by Intel last year. Qualcomm already supplies the baseband to the CDMA version of the iPhone 4, but not the original GSM version of the device.
Citing checks with contacts, Berger said in a report circulated Thursday (June 2) that production of iPhone 5—codenamed N94—will reach 8 million units in the third quarter of this year, with Qualcomm set to provide a CDMA and WCDMA enabled baseband that will allow Apple to streamline production of the iPhone for various countries, making iPhone 5 a "world phone."
Qualcomm began supplying basebands into the CDMA-based iPhone 4 late in the fourth quarter of 2010 or in the first quarter of this year, Berger said, good for about $120 million to $170 million work of revenue this year. Picking up the non-CDMA iPhones could mean another 80 million baseband units for Qualcomm, good for about $800 million in revenue, Berger said.
FBR maintains an "outperform" rating and $70 price target on Qualcomm's stock. The stock traded at $57.80 early Friday.
Thats a very good observation.... It also gives an "impression" that every product being launched is actually a one of its kind...even though the hardware components being used may not offer significant performance gains compared to the previous generation. Actually I dont think Apple gives the same level of importance to the hardware as compared to their software.
This should be absolutely no surprise to anyone. When the CDMA version of the iPhone 4 was launched for Verizon's network, teardowns soon revealed that it used the Qualcomm universal baseband chip, not a CDMA-only chip. People immediately began wondering how soon the "world iPhone" would be announced. Simplifying the BOM and the supply chain for all iPhones was a logical and expected next step.
This is Apple's way. Break them and make sure no one can boast they power you. It is that simple. Apple is simply smart. Can you imagine how they do this? Next season it will be another company. No permanent friend, just permanent interest.
It may be good move by Apple. What are other salient technical features for this switch over?
Is that now we can touch anywhere on iPhone5 without dropping the signal? This time, Apple must check it good. Steve Job will demonstrate this feature.
Not surprised at the decision, why would they go to a supplier who bought the business looking for the cherry than one who's core business is wireless chips and technology.
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