The chip giant shortly after announced that it would be dropping out of the 5G smartphone modem business, leaving an empty field for Qualcomm to take advantage of in the form of securing a lucrative deal with Apple. While all this was public knowledge, a new report has surfaced this week, detailing that Apple actually held talks with Intel about acquiring its smartphone modem chip business. After Apple and Qualcomm reached an agreement, Intel said that it was “exploring strategic alternatives for its modem chip business.” However, selling the modem division to Apple is still a possibility. However, the report adds that the modem business can also be bought by someone else, meaning that Apple will lose out on potential talent. As most of you know, Apple has a separate division to develop its own in-house iPhone modems.

Source: Wall Street Journal April 27, 2019 14:37 UTC