Apple has renewed its partnership with Qualcomm for the supply of 5G modems. The creator of Snapdragon will continue to produce the modems of iPhones until 2026. The reason for the renewal is that the development of Apple’s 5G equipment is delayed.
The announcement of the maintenance of the contract was published by Qualcomm on Monday (11). Last week, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported that Apple is expected to launch its own modem in 2025 — the eternal deadline of “two years from now comes Apple’s modem.”
Apple will continue to use Qualcomm’s 5G modem until 2026
The new contract between Apple and Qualcomm is valid until 2026. However, there is a possibility that a portion of the iPhones will launch with Apple’s own modems from 2025. The question is whether this equipment will be ready in time for the launch of the iPhone 17.
The certainty, confirmed by Qualcomm in the announcement of the renewal of the partnership, is that by 2026 around 20% of the modems used by Apple will be provided by the creator of Snapdragon. With this confirmation, Qualcomm again plays the role of source for journalists, just as it did when it revealed that Samsung would only use Snapdragons in the Galaxy S23 line.
By the statement of Qualcomm, it is assumed that from the iPhone 18 (expected name of the smartphone of 2026) Apple will expand the production of its modem. If all goes as planned by the Cupertino company, the entire iPhone line should use an “Apple Silicon modem” from 2027.
Apple’s modem is and will be big blow at the Qualcomm cashier
According to UBS, 21% of Qualcomm’s revenue in 2022 came from supplying equipment to Apple. By 2026, the chipmaker will be able to count the money from the modems in the iPhone in its cashier.
And by keeping the contract with Ma’s company, Qualcomm also recovers a part of the revenue lost with the launch of the Huawei Mate 60 and Huawei’s plans to use Kirin chips in all its phones.
