Qualcomm might finally be losing out on a lucrative deal to Intel as Apple will be hiring two suppliers for placing LTE modems inside the upcoming iPhone 7 family. According to the latest report from Bloomberg, various carriers in the United States are going to feature different LTE modems, and according to additional details, AT&T models of the iPhone 7 will feature Intel’s LTE chips, while a vast majority of them sold in China and belonging to the carrier Verizon are going to feature LTE modems from Qualcomm.
One of the reasons why Apple has decided to not to rely on a single manufacturer is because it helps to complete the deadline of shipments. In case one manufacturer is unable to provide the necessary amount of shipments as stated in the deal, then Apple can shift to its secondary supplier to complete those number of outstanding units. Additionally, choosing more than one supplier will also allow the company to get a much healthier bargain for LTE chips, which in turn will allow it to gain a much higher profit margin for each iPhone 7 model sold.
Qualcomm might have secured a ton of LTE modem shipments for iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus at possibly inflated prices, but with Intel brought into the loop, Qualcomm is going to have to woo Apple with a terrific deal in the future. As far as performances go, Qualcomm’s LTE modems are able to deliver much higher download speeds while consuming less energy due to the manufacturing process in which they are submitted to so Apple is going to have to be careful in relying on Intel to supply LTE chips that deliver high download and upload speeds while consuming less battery life.
Both iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus are going to be announced during the month of September, so we will have to see how well Intel’s LTE chips are able to perform against Qualcomm’s.