Apple has halted development of its own Wi-Fi chips as it focuses on processor and modem chips, according to a new report from TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
Apple has halted developing its own Wi-Fi chips; Broadcom is the biggest winner of the iPhone 15's upgrade to Wi-Fi 6E and the leading beneficiary of the Wi-Fi industry-standard upgrade to Wi-Fi 6E/7 with higher ASP.
Kuo believes that Apple was developing a Wi-Fi only chip, not a Wi-Fi + Bluetooth combo chip, which is more difficult. Since most of Apple's product use a combo chip, it would take an even greater effort to replace Broadcom.
Additionally, taking resources away from processor upgrades is more likely to have a negative effect on sales.
Therefore, to ensure that the world's most advanced 3nm processors can enter mass production smoothly in 2023–2025, and the performance upgrade and power consumption improvement can significantly improve vs. predecessors, Apple has devoted most of its IC design resources to the development of processors. Insufficient development resources have delayed the mass production of Apple's own 5G baseband chip, not to mention the Wi-Fi chip with lower strategic value. In other words, Apple's own Wi-Fi chip development visibility is even lower than its own 5G baseband chip.
Finally, Kuo says that over the next couple years we will see upgrades to Wi-Fi 6E/7, making it a riskier time for Apple to introduce its first ever Wi-Fi chip. He predicts Broadcom's business is likely safe for the foreseeable future and will benefit from the adoption of new Wi-Fi 6E/7 chips, including the new Wi-Fi 6E chip in the iPhone 15.
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Apple has halted developing its own Wi-Fi chips; Broadcom is the biggest winner of the iPhone 15's upgrade to Wi-Fi 6E and the leading beneficiary of the Wi-Fi industry-standard upgrade to Wi-Fi 6E/7 with higher ASP.
Kuo believes that Apple was developing a Wi-Fi only chip, not a Wi-Fi + Bluetooth combo chip, which is more difficult. Since most of Apple's product use a combo chip, it would take an even greater effort to replace Broadcom.
Additionally, taking resources away from processor upgrades is more likely to have a negative effect on sales.
Therefore, to ensure that the world's most advanced 3nm processors can enter mass production smoothly in 2023–2025, and the performance upgrade and power consumption improvement can significantly improve vs. predecessors, Apple has devoted most of its IC design resources to the development of processors. Insufficient development resources have delayed the mass production of Apple's own 5G baseband chip, not to mention the Wi-Fi chip with lower strategic value. In other words, Apple's own Wi-Fi chip development visibility is even lower than its own 5G baseband chip.
Finally, Kuo says that over the next couple years we will see upgrades to Wi-Fi 6E/7, making it a riskier time for Apple to introduce its first ever Wi-Fi chip. He predicts Broadcom's business is likely safe for the foreseeable future and will benefit from the adoption of new Wi-Fi 6E/7 chips, including the new Wi-Fi 6E chip in the iPhone 15.
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