Qualcomm in regular talks with Apple

Qualcomm chief Paul Jacobs in an interview today said his company has been talking with Apple about providing chips for the iPhone. He didn't provide specifics but tried to downplay the significance for Bloomberg, explaining that Qualcomm's size means it talks to "everybody." He also pointed out that company "haven't made [a deal] yet" with Apple and didn't say what progress if any had been achieved.

The admission, though not necessarily indicative of any specific plans, nonetheless still comes just as Qualcomm has produced new dual-mode 3G baseband chips that could support the fastest possible 3G on both CDMA and GSM phone networks and therefore give companies like Apple one device they could sell to every carrier. As yet unconfirmed rumors have hinted that a Qualcomm-supported iPhone is in development and might need one of these chipsets.

Every iPhone since the original has so far depended on Infineon chipsets for its baseband and are limited to variants of 3G intended for GSM networks. Apple as a consequence would have to produce a second phone to accommodate carriers like Verizon and would risk an early obsolescence without support for 4G.

By Electronista Staff