Apple designs the chip, but it is still high through the Qualcomm. At present, Qualcomm is Apple's baseband chip supplier. However, what is the baseband chip? Why is Apple difficult to give up Qualcomm chip? The initial Apple Based Chip Supplier is Boyong Company. The CDMA version of the CDMA version released in early 2011 will start using Qualcomm baseband chip, and now the basic basic per product is so.
However, the current situation is changing, investment bank Cowen & Company analyst Timothy Acuri, issued a report on Monday, Intel is negotiating with Apple, hoping from 2015 iPhone to use Intel LTE baseband chips. But at the same time, Akuri believes that although the negotiation is in progress, Apple is impossible to choose Intel's LTE chip, and Intel negotiations just hope to increase the chips negotiated with Qualcomm.
It can be seen that Apple does not want to form high-pass to Qualcomm in this field, and both parties are in a game around the baseband chip.
First, what is a baseband chip
Assume that a mobile phone wants to achieve the most basic function - call texting, then this phone should include the following parts: RF part, baseband part, power management, peripherals, software. The radio frequency portion and the baseband portion are the core of the baseband chip.
The radio frequency portion is generally part of the information transmission and reception; the baseband portion is generally part of the information processing. The baseband chip is used to synthesize the baseband signal that is about to be transmitted, or decodes the received baseband signal. Specifically, when transmitting the audio signal, the audio signal is compiled into the baseband code used to transmit, and the received base band code is interpreted as an audio signal. At the same time, it is also responsible for address information (mobile phone number, website address), text information (short message text, website text), and image information compilation. Its main components are processors and memory.
Since the fundamental frequency is the core part of the mobile phone, it is also the highest technical content. There are only very few manufacturers with this technology, including Qualcomm, Lianfa, Yingfine, Boyong Company, etc.
Second, what is the relationship between mobile phone manufacturers and baseband chip companies?
From the perspective of the supply chain, the baseband chip merchant is in upstream, mobile phone manufacturers generally cannot produce baseband chips independently, and must choose the corresponding partners. However, on the other hand, the baseband chip manufacturer also strives to achieve more mobile phone manufacturers and strive to expand the market share.
Historically, the baseband chip market pattern has experienced a relatively large change. 2G era, the main manufacturer of mobile phone industry is Nokia, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, etc., relative baseband chip suppliers are Texas Instruments, Freescale, Adi, Bo Tong, etc. These traditional mobile phone giants have lost in the 3G era and the smartphone age, upstream suppliers follow the shuffle. Up to now, Texas Instruments have closed the baseband chip business, Freescale and Adi have chosen a split sale.
On June 3 this year, another baseband chip supply Broadong Company announced that it will sell or stop its cellular baseband business. With the players of Texas Instruments and Boyong, Qualcomm's status is more secure. Data show that the mobile phone application baseband chip has a year of global output of approximately $ 16 billion to $ 19 billion, while Qualcomm occupies more than 50% of them.
At present, Apple's baseband chip supplier is mainly Qualcomm. Samsung is paying attention to balance. All baseband chip vendors except the United Antiplist are Samsung's supplier. Therefore, Apple has encountered a problem: how to avoid depends on Qualcomm on the baseband chip supply.
Third, pass Apple plans to produce baseband chip
Although the baseband chip market is extremely high, "self-love" and habit of "closed" Apple may be planning to produce baseband chips. In April this year, foreign media reported that Apple dug two "baseband chip engineering design experts" for ten years from Boyong. It is reported that Apple's official website is still recruiting dozens of engineers related to RF chip design and development.
At the same time, foreign media Digitime also reported that Apple is planning to develop an internal baseband processor and will use the 2015 iPhone model. This component may be produced by Samsung and GlobalFoundries.
The report also mentioned that Apple is considering the application processor that merges the baseband processor into its A series. The A Series Application Processor is an Apple's autonomous processor product, which has been applied to Apple's iOS devices. If the rumor is true, Apple hopes to strengthen its own ability to design independently on the baseband chip.
However, the technical threshold for the baseband chip market is very high. It takes long-term technological accumulation, Apple is still difficult to get rid of Qualcomm in the short term.
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