Qualcomm Inc. said it believes it will supply only 20% of the modem chips to connect Apple Inc.’s iPhone wireless data network until the device’s 2023 launch.
Qualcomm currently supplies the modem chips for all of Apple’s devices. Qualcomm said at an investor conference that it believed the expansion of its phone chip revenues would be in line with the broader phone markets, while Apple got 80% of its modem chips from other suppliers.
Apple is working on its own modem chip and has purchased Intel Corp’s modem unit. Qualcomm did not say whether it believed Apple would self-supply all the shares that Qualcomm is expected to lose or whether it could turn to other vendors.
Qualcomm Chief Financial Officer sky palanquin said the company expects Apple to make up only a “low single-digit” percentage of the company’s chip sales by the end of fiscal 2024. Qualcomm’s chip revenue hit $27 billion this year, of which $10 billion came from sources other than smartphone handsets.
The company believes that, excluding Apple’s sales, its revenue growth in handsets will grow faster than the overall market, mainly thanks to its traction with high-end smartphone makers such as Xiaomi Corp, Oppo and Vivo. Thank you.
“We are no longer defined by a single end market and a single customer relationship,” Chief Executive cristiano amono said during the event.
amon It also said that Qualcomm sells to Apple what are called radio-frequency front-end chips combined with modem chips. Amon said Qualcomm will have a future chance to compete selling those chips to Apple, regardless of where Apple sources its modem chips.
But he said those potential wins are not included in Qualcomm’s forecasts.
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