Rumored LTE win would make Intel #3
Rick Merritt, EETimes
6/10/2016 01:50 PM EDT
SAN JOSE, Calif. – Intel Corp. could move into third place as a provider of smartphone modems if a growing number of reports are accurate it has won a substantial portion of sockets for LTE baseband chips in Apple’s iPhone 7. Such a deal would be a significant shot in the arm for Intel’s wireless business which took cuts in applications processors in the wake of a massive reorg announced in April.
Intel will provide more than 20 million LTE chips for iPhone 7 handsets for AT&T, according to a report from Bloomberg citing an unnamed source and Wall Street analysts. Such a deal could propel Intel into third place in smartphone modems next year from its 2015 position of a three-way tie for sixth place, according to Will Strauss, principal of market watcher Forward Concepts (Tempe, Ariz.).