Apple plans to get rid of Qualcomm and Broadcom chips in iPhones in favor of its own designs by 2025
Apple uses communication chips from Broadcom and Qualcomm in its devices, and is one of the largest customers of these companies – 20% and 22%, respectively. But they plan to abandon third-party chips, replacing them with ones of their own production, as, for example, happened with Intel when the company switched to Apple Silicon’s ARM processors.
Broadcom supplies Apple with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. Qualcomm powers the iPhone with cellular connectivity. In turn, Apple intends to replace them with its own chip by 2025.
This is not the first time that insiders talk about similar plans of the company. Earlier it was reported that such goals existed for this year. But production problems moved the deadlines. Currently, the company is faced with overheating and insufficient energy efficiency.
It is also worth considering that the iPhone currently works with more than 100 operators in 175 countries of the world, which accordingly requires long-term testing. And Apple cannot afford to make a mistake in a product that accounts for more than half of the company’s profits.
In 2018, Apple already had time to start working on its own modems, opening a separate office for this purpose in San Diego (next to the Qualcomm headquarters). The following year, the company bought Intel’s modem division for $1 billion and had court cases with Qualcomm over the use of patents.
Currently, the companies do not comment on this situation and are very cautious about future cooperation.