Qualcomm may replace Infineon in iPhone 5 design
updated 03:05 pm EDT, Fri September 10, 2010
Qualcomm rumored again in iPhone plans
Talk of Apple snapping up Qualcomm chipsets for future iPhones gained momentum on Friday with a claim in Taiwan's Commercial Times that Apple has ordered large amounts of Qualcomm chips. Besides accommodating a CDMA iPhone many expect would ship early next year, the order might also be used for the next-generation model. Apple is already believed to have started work on the next-generation model and should still use Foxconn (Hon Hai) as the manufacturer.
The deal was reportedly forged because of the CDMA version and not because Qualcomm would sell the cellular baseband chips at a lower price than Infineon.
Apple may have already moved away from Infineon in the iPhone 4, but it still depends heavily on the company for the GSM and HSPA cellular components used in both the iPad and the iPhone 3GS. Infineon has so far lived up to expectations but may be limiting to expansion. It doesn't produce regular CDMA chipsets and was recently bought by Intel in a move that would discourage any development for Apple, which uses ARM processors and would undermine Intel's plans for Atom chips in phones.
None of the involved companies have commented on the rumor, although Intel has claimed that Steve Jobs likes the Infineon deal and implied that the existing partner might carry on in some form. [via Unwired View]
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You say many would expect a CDMA iPhone next year. Where are you getting these results? Obviously an insane asylum, because anyone that expects Apple to work with a monopolistic CDMA provider must be insane.