Apple has agreed to pay $1 billion for the majority of Intel’s smartphone modem business. The deal includes around2,200 Intel employees, along with associated equipment and leases.
The deal also includes numerous related patents. Intel will retain access to that intellectual property for non-smartphone applications.
Apple’s Johny Srouji, senior vice president of Hardware Technologies, said the deal “will help expedite our development on future products and allow Apple to further differentiate moving forward.”
The deal is expected to close by the end of the year. In April, Apple reached a deal with Qualcomm to use their modem chips exclusively, in order to resolve a long-running patent dispute. At the same time, Intel canceled its 5G modem project, which was intended for future iPhones. Prior to the Qualcomm deal, Apple had used both Qualcomm and Intel modems in its iPhones.
