The sale of the modem business would give Apple an in-house modem chip, while for Intel the appeal is that it can rid itself of an unsuccessful unit that has been bleeding cash.
It would give Apple access to engineering work and talent behind Intel’s yearslong push to develop modem chips for the crucial next generation of wireless technology known as 5G, potentially saving years of development work. Apple has been working to develop chips to further differentiate its devices as smartphone sales plateau globally, squeezing the iPhone business that has long underpinned its profit. It has hired engineers, including some from Intel, and announced plans for an office of 1,200 employees in San Diego.Intel no longer plans to compete in the smartphone modem market, but is still working on 5G solutions for other markets like connected devices.