In 2014, Intel announced the 28nm XMM 7260 LTE-A baseband, and Samsung's Galaxy Alpha International Edition became the first smartphone to carry this baseband. Due to Qualcomm's monopoly on CDMA, this chip does not support CDMA networks, and it will not be able to achieve full Netcom. In 2014, under the blessing of Qualcomm's MDM9625 baseband, the iPhone 6 series was released, and Apple launched the full Netcom mobile phone in China.
In this case, Intel's mobile and communications division for the mobile market experienced a serious loss and experienced a restructuring. Despite this, Intel still did not give up, in the spring of 2015 released the 28nm XMM 7360 baseband chip, manufactured by TSMC.
And this is the XMM 7360 chip, so Intel finally got on Apple's express.
Take the Apple Express and greet the moment of high light
One of the big backgrounds between Intel and Apple at the baseband chip level is that Apple hopes to ease its reliance on Qualcomm's baseband and adopt a dual-vendor strategy; therefore, when Apple plans to launch a new iPhone in 2016, Intel finally finds an opportunity.
In September 2016, the iPhone 7 series was released. It has two versions on the baseband, namely Qualcomm's MDM9645 (mobile phone models A1660 and A1661) and Intel's XMM 7360 (mobile phone models A1778 and A1784).
However, according to related signal tests, the Qualcomm baseband version of the iPhone 7 performed 30% better than the Intel baseband version. And in the case of weak signals, the Qualcomm baseband version is 75% better than the Intel baseband version. Despite this, Apple insists on using Intel's products. Not only that but Apple also deliberately limits the speed of Qualcomm's baseband to avoid user differences.
In the iPhone 8 era, Apple still adopted a dual baseband vendor strategy, the specific models are Qualcomm's Opteron X16 and Intel's XMM 7480; but from the test of Cellular Insights, Qualcomm's X16 is still faster than Intel's XMM 7480— - Of course, in the Chinese market, the Bank of China's iPhone still uses Qualcomm baseband.
In February 2017, Intel finally launched an XMM 7560 baseband that supports Full Netcom, the first LTE modem based on Intel's 14nm process technology. With the litigation between Apple and Qualcomm globally, Apple finally decided This baseband is fully used in the latest generation of three iPhones (iPhone XS/XR/XS Max) released in September 2018, including the Chinese market.
In the view of Lei Feng.com, this cooperation can be said to be the highlight moment of Intel baseband chips.
Of course, after the XMM 7560, Intel has also announced its successor XMM 7660; no accident, the new iPhone 2019 will use this chip (even if Apple and Qualcomm have resumed cooperation).
Exit the 5G baseband market and only seek to sell
In fact, in November 2017, when Intel announced the XMM 7660 baseband, it also announced its first 5G baseband XMM 8060; then a year later, Intel announced its second 5G baseband chip XMM 8160, from Technically speaking, it fully supports the NR, SA, and NSA networking modes in 5G networks, and also integrates 2G, 3G, and 4G multiple standards on the same baseband chip.
At the time, Intel also announced that it would provide support for customers to launch 5G mobile phones in 2020 - now, of course, it will not work.
With the resumption of cooperation between Apple and Qualcomm, Intel officially announced its withdrawal from the 5G smartphone modem market – which gave Apple 5G orders to Qualcomm. From the market situation, after losing Apple's big customer, despite the accumulation of people and technology, Intel's baseband business has become a drag.
Therefore, Intel is eager to sell the baseband business.
According to foreign media, Intel has received letters of intent from some companies and hired Goldman Sachs Group to manage the process, but it is still in its infancy. Some people familiar with the matter said that if a deal is reached, Intel may receive billions of dollars in revenue. Previously, when asked if they were considering selling a 5G mobile phone modem business, Intel CEO said the company was evaluating what is the best option for our intellectual property and employees.
As for the future of Intel's baseband business, head of Moor Insights & Strategy believes that in addition to Apple, other potential buyers may include Broadcom, ON Semiconductor, Samsung Electronics or Violet. He also believes that for Apple, despite the stagnation of Apple and Intel negotiations, the acquisition of Intel's modem business is still the best choice for Apple's self-developed baseband, because it can save modem development time.
Of course, for Intel, time is not waiting for people, selling early can sell more money.