Intel Kills 5G Modem Plans
- Paul Thurrott
- Apr 17, 2019
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36
In the wake of Apple’s blockbuster settlement—read: defeat—in its Qualcomm patent case, Intel has thrown in the towel on its 5G modem plans.
“We are very excited about the opportunity in 5G and the ‘cloudification’ of the network, but in the smartphone modem business it has become apparent that there is no clear path to profitability and positive returns,” Intel CEO Bob Swan said in a prepared statement. “5G continues to be a strategic priority across Intel, and our team has developed a valuable portfolio of wireless products and intellectual property. We are assessing our options to realize the value we have created, including the opportunities in a wide variety of data-centric platforms and devices in a 5G world.”
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Yikes.
Intel’s inability to compete in mobile has been a long-time concern, but its inability to create competitive modems, and 5G modems in particular, has many wondering if the chip-making giant even has a future.
Apple selected Intel has an alternative supplier of 4G/LTE modems to Qualcomm for its iPhones, but it infamously had to slow down the Qualcomm parts to match the less-competitive performance of the Intel modems. Since then, Apple unsuccessfully tried to sue Qualcomm into even better licensing terms—the firm already paid less than all of Qualcomm’s other customers for modems—and was forced to use Intel parts exclusively. The results have been disastrous and led to this week’s blockbuster settlement with Qualcomm because Intel’s 5G parts kept getting delayed into the distant future.
Intel’s decision to “exit the 5G smartphone modem business” comes right on the heels of that settlement, and helps explain, I think, why Apple did settle: The Intel 5G parts weren’t just late, they might never have arrived in a viable form. Intel, which was once the world’s biggest maker of microprocessors by volume, is simply inept when it comes to competing in mobile, a market that overtook the PC years ago.
Conversation 36 comments
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skane2600
<blockquote><em><a href="#421479">In reply to Jeff.Bane:</a></em></blockquote><p>Gee, I wish all I could do is own a double-digit billion dollar business selling x86 stuff. </p>
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skane2600
<blockquote><em><a href="#421722">In reply to Greg Green:</a></em></blockquote><p>If by "failed at mobile" you mean failed on smartphones, I'd agree, but for mobile beyond smartphones the truth is more nuanced. </p><p><br></p><p>With the possible exception of countries where almost nobody owns any kind of computing device, I don't think it's true that world is <em>increasingly</em> mobile. I think's its about as mobile now as it's ever going to get. </p>
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skane2600
<p>Is it really surprising that Qualcomm, a company who's history of developing communication technology stretches back to 1968 and Linkabit, would be better able to design an advanced modem than Intel, a company that specializes in microprocessors and has minimal experience in advanced communications?</p><p><br></p><p>I believe that Intel will be OK for the foreseeable future because the mantra "It's all about mobile" is beginning to sound like predictions of the year of the Linux desktop. Mobile is very important, but it will never be more than a part of the computing landscape. </p><p><br></p>
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skane2600
<blockquote><em><a href="#421561">In reply to red.radar:</a></em></blockquote><p>Sure if the CEO can't get reliable 10nm, who can?</p>
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wocowboy
Premium Member<blockquote><em><a href="#421564">In reply to lvthunder:</a></em></blockquote><blockquote><em>Correct on both counts. If the result of Apple's effort is that they have better licensing terms and fees now than they did before the lawsuits began, then one cannot say that Apple was "defeated". We do not know what those terms are and probably will never know, so it is baseless and biased to say that Qualcomm defeated Apple. There is also the small matter of the plethora of lawsuits against Qualcomm that are still being waged by the EU and other governments around the world as well as other device makers. These lawsuits still have to play out, or they might be settled out of court as well. We will have to wait to see how they all turn out. </em></blockquote><p><br></p>