Apple 5G modems won’t be ready until 2024, says Ming-Chi Kuo

Giving a peek into Apple’s 5G development, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has reported that Apple won’t be able to transition into iPhones with Apple 5G modems until 2024. This revelation spiked Qualcomm’s stock price by 3% given that it has now become a 100% supplier for 5G modems for the iPhones until Apple’s solution arrives.

Apple 5G modems won’t be ready until 2024

According to Ming-Chi Kuo’s tweets, the analyst found that Apple’s 5G modem chip development is currently ongoing. However, it won’t be able to finish developing its modem until 2024. Apple acquired Intel’s modem wing-back in 2019 and started its 5G modem development in late 2020. However, its development has failed at the moment.

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[Company Update] Qualcomm (QCOM.O)

My latest survey indicates that Apple’s own iPhone 5G modem chip development may have failed, so Qualcomm will remain exclusive supplier for 5G chips of 2H23 new iPhones, with a 100% supply share (vs. company’s previous estimate of 20%).

— 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) June 28, 2022

With that being said, Kuo has also mentioned that Qualcomm will be a 100% supplier of 5G modems for Apple iPhones in 2022 and 2023. This comes after a previous estimate that suggested Qualcomm will be shipping 20% off 5G modems in 2023. However, since Apple’s in-house 5G modems won’t be ready till 2H23, Qualcomm gets the complete share.

Kuo has highlighted that by the time Apple’s 5G modem is ready for business, Qualcomm would have made advancements in this field subsiding the negative impacts of the technology. Additionally, it would be able to offset the impact Apple will cause with the orders once its solution is ready for iPhones in 2024.

Apple is slated to roll out iPhone 14 series later this year followed by iPhone 15 series in late 2023. With the current state of development, Apple’s 5G modems should be ready for rollout on iPhone 16 series models slated to arrive in 2H24.

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