Qualcomm extends its three-year contract with Apple to supply iPhone with 5G baseband chips until 2026

Thanks to CTOnews.com netizens Wu Yanzu in South China for the delivery of clues! CTOnews.com, September 11 (Xinhua) Qualcomm said on Monday that it will supply Apple with 5G modems (baseband chips) for smartphones until 2026, a three-year extension of the contract, according to CNBC.

Wall Street analysts and Qualcomm executives have previously said they expect Apple to start using internally developed 5G modems in 2024. For now, it seems that Apple's self-developed products need to be delayed.

Qualcomm currently provides 5G modems for Apple's iPhone, but Apple has been trying to build its own modems to get rid of its dependence on Qualcomm chips. Apple has acquired Intel's smartphone modem division and began building its own modems in 2019. However, analysts say Apple will face challenges in abandoning Qualcomm because of the complexity of the chip.

Qualcomm said that under the six-year agreement, Qualcomm will continue to collect royalties from Apple. The agreement was reached at the end of a legal dispute between Apple and Qualcomm over patent fees and was settled in 2019.

CTOnews.com query found that Gao Tong jumped more than 8 per cent as soon as the news came out. The confirmation of this news means that the upcoming iPhone 15, iPhone 16, iPhone 17 and even iPhone 18 series of new phones (if the naming rules remain the same) will still use Qualcomm 5G modems.

However, Apple clearly plans to make a gradual transition to its own 5G modems, and Qualcomm expects to still account for 20% of iPhone shipments by 2026.