Intel XMM 7360 modem could be in half of all iPhone 7 units produced

Analysts from from American financial institution Cowen and Company recently reaffirmed rumors that Apple would be utilizing Intel modems for a large number of iPhone 7 units instead of relying exclusively on Qualcomm modems as was done in the past. It was previously predicted that Intel modems could appear on as much as 25 percent of manufactured iPhone 7 units, but now analyst Timothy Arcuri is claiming that this number could be over 50 percent instead.

According to Arcuri, the contract between Apple and Intel could bring the semiconductor company 1.5 billion USD in additional income with about 850 million USD in profit. The long-term deal with Intel could also convince Apple to integrate Intel modems in other SoCs such as on the Apple A series. On the other end, Apple could benefit from reduced space, power consumption, and production costs compared to solutions from Qualcomm. Note that a potentially exclusive deal with Intel goes against Apple's strategy of diversifying its suppliers.

The original rumor appeared as early as last October and was more or less confirmed by Qualcomm in April when CEO Steve Mollenkopf spoke in front of a group of investors about losing a "major client". It was then revealed last month that Apple could be using the Intel XMM 7360 for 450 Mbps downstream and compatibility with 29 LTE bands worldwide.

(Intel 7360 Modem Factsheet)

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