As the legal battle rages on between Apple and Qualcomm, the former is trying to end its partnership with the largest chipset maker. A report from online website Digitimes claims that Apple may join hands with Qualcomm’s rival MediaTek for the next-gen iPhone modems in 2018.
The report says that MediaTek has technology, capacity and pricing advantages, to become a supplier of modem chips for all upcoming Apple devices. This will make MediaTek the second company after Intel that will be supplying modems to Apple for the iPhone.
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Apple-MediaTek New Innings
The DigiTimes story was further supported by a similar report from The Wall Street Journal last month, which outlined how Apple was working to move away from Qualcomm in favor of MediaTek and Intel.
MediaTek, however, declined to comment on the speculations, saying that the company has been working hard to strive for more new orders from more potential customers.
Some industry watchers said that MediaTek meets the three principles long followed by Apple in determining providers of chip solutions for its various product lines: leading technological competitiveness, comprehensive product blueprints, and reliable logistic support.
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The report went on to add that, the Apple-MediaTek partnership could extend further than just modems. The chipset maker could help the tech-giants to manufacture its future products such as smart speakers, wireless charging devices, and wireless connection systems.
The issue escalated when Apple filed a lawsuit against Qualcomm’s unfair patent royalty calculation formula involving modem chipsets used in iPhone devices, in January 2017. Following which both firms have looked for alternatives to end reliance on each other in order to tackle the fierce competition in an efficient manner.
In November, Qualcomm struck billions dollar deal with Chinese smartphone makers while Apple switched to Intel for 50% of its orders for iPhone modem chipsets.
