Apple buys Intel’s smartphone modem business
Apple will acquire “the majority” of Intel’s smartphone modem business for $1 billion, the two companies announced today. Around 2,200 Intel employees will join Apple, and Apple will acquire IP and equipment from Intel as well. The transaction is expected to close toward the end of the year.
Intel won’t be getting out of the modem business entirely. It’ll still be able to develop modems for PCs, Internet of Things devices, autonomous vehicles, and seemingly anything that’s not a smartphone. Intel CEO Bob Swan said the acquisition will allow the company to focus on developing other 5G technologies.
The acquisition means that Apple is now well on the way to producing its own 5G modems for its smartphones, rather than having to rely on...