Apple Predicted to Build Its Own Power Management Chip for iPhones Within Two Years

[MacRumors]

Dialog Semiconductor shares plunged to their lowest price in over 16 years on Monday, after an industry analyst predicted Apple will drop the supplier and move to its own in-house power management chips for iPhones by 2019.

The prediction comes from analyst Karsten Iltgen at German investment bank Bankhaus Lampe, who said that Apple will at the very least cut back to some degree on Dialog's supply of power management chips for the iPhone, according to a research note obtained by Bloomberg.

"There is strong evidence that Apple is developing its own power-management integrated circuits and intends to replace the chip made by Dialog at least in part," Karsten Iltgen, analyst at Bankhaus Lampe, said in a research note published Tuesday. A shift to Apple developing its own chips in-house is unlikely in the short term, he said.

"We believe that Apple is setting up power-management design centers in Munich and California," said Iltgen. "We hear from the industry that about 80 engineers at Apple are already working on a PMIC with specific plans to employ it in the iPhone by as early as 2019."

According to Iltgen, Apple is setting up its own power management chip design centers in Munich and California, and up to 80 Apple engineers are said to already be working on its own PMIC (power management integrated circuit) component. However, he said Apple dropping Dialog "is unlikely in the short term."

Dialog's website says its integrated power management component results in up to 30% longer battery life:

Dialog replaces multiple discrete power management components with one highly integrated device, enabling our customers to produce lighter and thinner portable applications with higher power efficiency resulting in longer battery life.

These single chip solutions reduce energy usage and provide a simple, yet flexible, design at a lower cost. Typical usage tests show our Power Management Integrated Circuits (PMICs) are able to decrease the power consumption of a portable device by up to 30%.

The analyst noted that Apple has steadily hired engineers from the United Kingdom-based Dialog over the past year, from the chipmaker's pool of about 1,300 engineers, but a person familiar with the situation noted that "it isn't unusual" to see employees flowing between Apple and its supplier.

However, last week Apple announced that it was planning to stop using the graphics processing chips supplied by Imagination Technology in its iPhones within two years, and Bloomberg noted that, ahead of that decision, Apple had hired "several people" from Imagination to help craft its in-house technology.

If Apple does make the same decision with Dialog Semiconductor as it did with Imagination Technologies, the former company could see as much as three quarters of its business gone over the next few years, as it's believed that Dialog gets as much as 74 percent of its sales from Apple.

Some analysts don't believe that it will ever come to that and disagree with Iltgen's prediction, as Barclays analyst Andrew Gardiner recently mentioned in a research note that he does "not see [Dialog] remotely in a similar position" as Imagination. Dialog shares remained down around 16 percent on Tuesday.

Not everyone agrees that Dialog is at risk. "We do not see them remotely in a similar position," said Andrew Gardiner, an analyst at Barclays Plc, in a research note. "We acknowledge Apple's continued hiring of engineers, in power management and elsewhere, but an additional 80 engineers hired in this area pales in comparison to the over 1,300 engineers Dialog employed at the end of last year."

Last year Dialog entered the news when a Fast Company report mentioned the supplier's $10 million investment in wireless technology company Energous, adding to recent rumors that Apple and its suppliers were gearing up to implement some form of wireless charging into a future line of iPhones.

Energous has said that its first truly wireless charging technology will arrive later in 2017, but in regards to the iPhone's wireless charging it's believed that Apple is again looking in-house to craft an inductive charger for the iPhone as it did for the Apple Watch, rather than using a truly wireless solution.

Article Link: Apple Predicted to Build Its Own Power Management Chip for iPhones Within Two Years

 

[TomA]

I don't care much about wireless charging, but if the iPhone 8 doesn't support quickcharge, I'll be buying my first Samsung phone this fall. I'm sick of having a phone that is dead before noon.

 

[recoil80]

They could hire me and fire Ive.
I'd make a thicker phone with a bigger battery, problem solved

By the way I'm glad they are hiring people to improve battery life, that's the biggest issue with iPhone nowadays.

 

[M.PaulCezanne]

Just please Tim, for the love of god, do not put Phil Schiller in charge of your new semiconductor division.

 

[kyjaotkb]

"Analyst" gonna analyse...
How many other companies are working with Dialog? How many patents did Apple register re: power management? Seems like the company of "thin and light" quite needs the most advanced power management chips tech and seems like Dialog owns that.

 

[A MacBook lover]

Competition works both ways. Now maybe these monopoly manufacturers will charge reasonable rates / improve quality.

 

[I7guy]

Apple is getting deeper and deeper into their own custom designed socs. Probably the only way they are going to get the iPhone to realize their visions. Tip of the iceberg.

 

[TechRemarker]

They could hire me and fire Ive.
I'd make a thicker phone with a bigger battery, problem solved

By the way I'm glad they are hiring people to improve battery life, that's the biggest issue with iPhone nowadays.

While no one would turn down more battery life, for most of us, we can easily get through a normal day on a single charge without an issue. So for all those people, having a thicker device for additional battery life they don't need wouldn't be a good solution. As the people who do need more battery life and are fine with a thicker phone, can simply get one of many available battery packs that vary in thickness depending on how much battery you need.

 

[citysnaps]

Just please Tim, for the love of god, do not put Phil Schiller in charge of your new semiconductor division.

Why would Cook do that?

Apple Senior VP Johny Srouji is doing a fantastic job in that capacity. Just look at Apple's Ax (and other) chip development over the years, beating out all competitors. Srouji is a superb leader that inspires the best from his employees.

 

[TomA]

While no one would turn down more battery life, for most of us, we can easily get through a normal day on a single charge without an issue. So for all those people, having a thicker device for additional battery life they don't need wouldn't be a good solution. As the people who do need more battery life and are fine with a thicker phone, can simply get one of many available battery packs that vary in thickness depending on how much battery you need.

Based on what I've seen, this is a minority opinion.

In any event, quickcharge would solve the problem and they don't even have that.

 

[recoil80]

While no one would turn down more battery life, for most of us, we can easily get through a normal day on a single charge without an issue. So for all those people, having a thicker device for additional battery life they don't need wouldn't be a good solution. As the people who do need more battery life and are fine with a thicker phone, can simply get one of many available battery packs that vary in thickness depending on how much battery you need.

I'd only have made the iPhone a little thicker to be completely flat, without the protruding camera.
I have the Apple battery case, but it is really huge and I only seldom use it. I'd be happy with about 15-20% more battery life, if they can achieve it via software or via some clever power management I'd be even happier.

 

[Jsameds]

I don't care much about wireless charging, but if the iPhone 8 doesn't support quickcharge, I'll be buying my first Samsung phone this fall. I'm sick of having a phone that is dead before noon.

Use an iPad charger. It's almost as good as 'quickcharge'

 

[Brandhouse]

Share price of a company drops after a industry insider makes a prediction, I'd be hanging my head in shame if I was that person.

 

[Abazigal]

Based on what I've seen, this is a minority opinion.

In any event, quickcharge would solve the problem and they don't even have that.

Minority or not, that's my sentiment as well.

 

[M.PaulCezanne]

Why would Cook do that?

Apple Senior VP Johny Srouji is doing a fantastic job in that capacity. Just look at Apple's Ax (and other) chip development over the years, beating out all competitors. Srouji is a superb leader that inspires the best from his employees.

He wouldn't. That, my friend, was a joke.

 

[69Mustang]

Competition works both ways. Now maybe these monopoly manufacturers will charge reasonable rates / improve quality.

What exactly are you trying to say? What monopoly manufacturers?

 

[jayducharme]

Apple is getting deeper and deeper into their own custom designed socs. Probably the only way they are going to get the iPhone to realize their visions. Tip of the iceberg.

My concern is whether that philosophy might spill over to the Mac, and then we'd be back in the 1990s with Apple's proprietary tech and limited interoperability. Jobs made the right move when he switched to Intel chips and made Macs play nice with all sorts of third party devices. I'd hate to see Apple revert back to its old ways.

 

[freediverx]

By the way I'm glad they are hiring people to improve battery life, that's the biggest issue with iPhone nowadays.

I take battery life claims with a grain of salt. Usually they translate into marginal improvements in a device's stand-by time, while having little to no impact on its battery life under normal use. It does me little good if my iPhone can lie dormant for a month on standby if it fails to last through a single day of normal usage.

Barring some revolution in battery technology, the best hope for dramatic battery life improvement probably lies in figuring out how to trickle charge the iPhone throughout the day. Fortunately we can look forward to a quick charge feature soon, but sadly we haven't seen any promising news in the field of wireless charging.

In the short term, I think there's greater opportunity in Apple's expected move to OLED displays. While LCDs require an always-on backlight shining behind the entire screen, in OLED displays each pixel lights up independently, eliminating the need for an inefficient, power-hungry backlight. Coupled with an iOS design refresh that made greater use of black backgrounds, hopefully this will give us a few extra hours of useful battery life.

 

[Superhappytree]

Use an iPad charger. It's almost as good as 'quickcharge'

I'm surprised this isn't more well known, I assumed everyone knew it charged faster with it. I've been doing this for the past 5 years and is why I'm not bothered about the whole "quickcharge" thing, every time I see someone complain about iPhones lack of it I'm just like: "What are you talking about? iPhones already charge within 90 mins". I forget there's many that just use the standard plug that comes with it.

 

[0150817]

What everyone ever thinks: "More battery life in the same size phone, yay!"
What Apple thinks: "Thinner phone"

 

[Jsameds]

What everyone ever thinks: "More battery life in the same size phone, yay!"
What Apple thinks: "Thinner phone"

What Apple have actually done, since 2014: More battery life in the same size phone.

 

[I7guy]

My concern is whether that philosophy might spill over to the Mac, and then we'd be back in the 1990s with Apple's proprietary tech and limited interoperability. Jobs made the right move when he switched to Intel chips and made Macs play nice with all sorts of third party devices. I'd hate to see Apple revert back to its old ways.

we'll have to see what happens, but I get what you are saying.

 

[KidAKidB]

I don't care much about wireless charging, but if the iPhone 8 doesn't support quickcharge, I'll be buying my first Samsung phone this fall. I'm sick of having a phone that is dead before noon.

Yeah, my iPhone charges so slowly compared to my Pixel XL and OnePlus 3T. Even with the iPad charger, the iPhone charges a bit faster, but still pales compared to quickcharge phones.

 

[freediverx]

I'm surprised this isn't more well known, I assumed everyone knew it charged faster with it.

The problem with that is that you still need to be tied down to a power outlet for some extended period of time. I think a better approach is to invest in a quality external battery that can charge up your iPhone just as quickly while in a backpack or purse.

 

[KidAKidB]

Use an iPad charger. It's almost as good as 'quickcharge'

It's not even remotely close to as good as quickcharge. My iPhone 7 Plus still charges very noticeably slower with the iPad charger than my Pixel XL and OP3T...