Apple has just purchased Intel's smartphone modem business, the company reports.
Both companies have signed an agreement under which Intel will transfer to Apple intellectual property, including 17,000 patents on wireless technologies, equipment and 2,200 Intel employees. The million-dollar transaction will reportedly be closed at the end of the year.
At the same time, Intel will reserve the right to develop modems using its patent solutions, as long as these modems are not designed for smartphones, but for computers, IoT devices and autonomous vehicles. Intel's CEO Bob Swan has said:
"This agreement enables us to focus on developing technology for the 5G network while retaining critical intellectual property and modem technology that our team has created."
At the same time, Johny Srouji, senior vice president of hardware technology at Apple, said:
"Apple is excited to have so many excellent engineers join our growing cellular technologies group, and know they’ll thrive in Apple’s creative and dynamic environment."
Apple has been buying modems from Intel since 2017, when it ceased its collaboration with Qualcomm due to the fact that the company had allegedly inflated the price of its chips.
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