A report from last year revealed that Apple was looking to source from Intel 5G modems for future iPhones. As it stands, Apple sources from both Intel and Qualcomm, but due to their dispute with the latter company, Apple is said to be trying to reduce their dependence on them, although it seems that they still can’t do that completely.
However it seems that maybe as a peace offering, Qualcomm has recently announced that they will be making its licensing fees for 5G technology cheaper in hopes to ease tensions between them and Apple as well as regulators. According to a report from Reuters, Qualcomm currently offers its customers two forms of licensing: a robust one that costs 5% of the phone’s price, and a “lighter” bundle that consists of just standards-essential patents that costs 3.25%.
With the recent announcement, Qualcomm will be including patents for 5G technology inside of its cheaper bundle, and that the 3.25% will only apply to the first $400 of the phone’s net selling price, whereas before it was at $500. As per Reuters’ report, in the past Qualcomm’s customers would typically license from both bundles to avoid potential lawsuits, which means that it would cost them 8.25% of their phone’s price.
However with this new offer, customers will now be able to just select the cheaper bundle and save themselves more money, which in turn could encourage more customers to take up Qualcomm’s offer. Speaking to Reuters, Alex Rogers, the head of Qualcomm’s licensing division said, “It’s a good context for dealing with the two licensee issues we have now.” That being said, recent reports based on job listings have revealed that Apple could be interested in developing its own 5G modems.