Intel to Acquire iPhone Supplier Infineon's Wireless Chip Unit

[inlovewithi]

I love how the article was written in a way to make this an Apple vs Intel situation, thus getting the fanboy riled up and create more fighting. A lot of thing were probably added out of context.

For those who don't read computer news outside of the Apple universe, Intel has been looking to get into the cell phone market for years, thus the main reason why the Atom was created. Supposedly they're going to come out with chips that draw as much power as an Arm processor. In all of the Intel Cell Phone news that I've read, I've never read anything that relates to the iPhone, only that intel is looking to get into the market, and have phones that have their processors. But of course here Intel revolves around Apple.

 

[ProwlingTiger]

... claiming that any device seeking to access the "full Internet" needs to be based on Intel's technology.

Because we all know that only Intel has the capability of opening the internet pipes all the way. Those AMD users just don't know what they're missing. Intel internet is so much better than regular internet.

/sarcasm

 

[PeterQVenkman]

How arrogant of intel. Too bad their chips are too power hungry for cellphones.

Perhaps this is why intel bought a company that does cellphone work. They could be gathering the pieces just like Apple has done.

I don't think so, if Apple thought this company was so important to them they would have outbid Intel.

Do not underestimate the ability of jobs to hold a grudge!

 

[alexhooren]

Just some facts about Intel and Infineon for all the people coming out with crazy ideas..

4 of every 5 desktop computers sold has an Intel processor. Losing Apple would be a blow, but hardly dent Intel in the grand scheme. Apple dropping Intel would likely cause Apple "more damage".

Infineon only has around 5% of the mobile processor market. Intel buying them doesn't make Intel a 'giant', nor does it restrict Apple's choices of chip supplier.

Intel is buying Infineon for the talent and expertise. Building chips isn't something you just do, even if you are Intel! There is nothing major or unusual about this acquisition.

Finally, don't confuse processors and chips. Infineon only supplies Apple with wireless platform chips, NOT processors. Apple has no reason to drop these and they have no baring on Apple's A4. Likewise, Apple has zero reason to bring this sort of chip development in-house. Apple also, like Intel, does not have the expertise to simply make their own either.

 

[inlovewithi]

Because we all know that only Intel has the capability of opening the internet pipes all the way. Those AMD users just don't know what they're missing. Intel internet is so much better than regular internet.

/sarcasm

Don't worry, it's just a 2 year old comment taken out of context. Basically what the Intel guy was saying was that Apple and other smart phone makers are limiting themselves by using Arm, which is less powerful than Intel processors. (Though I assume more power hungry.) That they could be much more. It was a knock against Arm, not Apple, from a company that's trying to sell processors. If a comment sounds weird, then it's most likely presented in a way that doesn't express the original point.

 

[davisjw]

I wonder whether we'll see Wifi/3G combo's come out in the future for laptops - whether Apple will jump on board it and start selling laptops that support 3G Broadband out of the box along with wifi/bluetooth etc. It would be a great selling point and of benefit to Apple and the carriers out there.

As neat as that sounds, I would hate for them to start doing this. The carriers can't keep up with the demand phones put on their services, not with standing adding 100X more hungry for service machines.

Hope the likes of Verizon and AT&T are putting their money where their mouth is and actually improving their ability over the marketing jargon they keep talking.

 

[RawBert]

Intel's on a shopping spree.

 

[Master Chief]

Clearly this is a good deal for Intel as it is all about Internet connectivity. And I can understand Apple's point of view, for not stepping in [more seriously] because it might not have been approved anyway, with so many potential complaints from other cell phone manufacturers. Screaming rape and murder by Apple.

I also understand why Intel didn't wait and acquired the company. They had to, or else it would have been forced to do business with AMD [for things like LTE]. That would have been stupid.

 

[Dooger]

Apple is allowed to acquire businesses. everyone is not.

*facepalm*
How could I forget the fanboys?

 

[inket]

Steven must be really pissed right now.

 

[alent1234]

Nothing stopping Apple from using Atom CPU's - or maybe I'm under estimating Stevo and we might see an Atom powered device in the future some time.

atom has too much x86 legacy in it. reason people like ARM is that it's a fresh start from x86.

intel is going to use the same strategy as the pentium. don't make the best product, make the cheapest one and people will buy it. i think it will probably work with cell phones as well in the long run

 

[ossclub]

Makes sense: all they have to do is change the color of that swoosh from red to blue and then move some letters around.

All business acquisitions should be so simple...

True. Those two logos look similar. Looks like Intel found a match.

 

[kernkraft]

True. Those two logos look similar. Looks like Intel found a match.

Similar? This sort of similarity is usually the subject of court cases. They are almost identical, their defining features are the same.

 

[Glideslope]

I don't think so, if Apple thought this company was so important to them they would have outbid Intel.

+1 Will be a non issue.

 

[alent1234]

Nothing stopping Apple from using Atom CPU's - or maybe I'm under estimating Stevo and we might see an Atom powered device in the future some time.

i don't think intel cares about Apple, it's the rest of the market

right now you license ARM and build a CPU. there are a lot of incompatible CPU's in the market that all have the same basic instruction set. Intel wants to sell you a few parts to make your costs of developing a mobile device a lot less

just like all PC's run all Windows software, Intel wants the mobile market to be similar hardware and software that will run the same apps across different models of phones

 

[JAT]

Apple has eschewed, Intel has been critical?

Sure, the story is news, but why sensationalize it more than necessary? There's going to be more discussion here than at Apple or Intel. Is it really just about the web hits these days? I've mostly ignored posts saying this about certain stories here at MR, but I beginning to agree this is starting to be a bit tabloid-ish. News/rumors surrounding Apple are already discussed more than any other consumer electronics company, isn't that enough?

 

[Truffy]

Intel's on a shopping spree.

Good-oh, I've got a 7 year old VW Golf they can have.

 

[mdriftmeyer]

How is this news regarding the CPU?

Apple will never used any other brand but it's own version of ARM.

 

[ykarmi]

Logos?

Am I the only one who finds it kind of funny that their logos look so much alike?

 

[mdriftmeyer]

heads up, Apple. Intel wants to drink your milkshake.

OTOH - will Jobs view this as an attack by a partner and switch to AMD processors?

Apple will switch to Broadcom LTE when they come out.

 

[alent1234]

unless apple has been working on samples of other chips, it will take a year or so to engineer new iphones and ipads based on new 3g/4g chips.

this isn't like dell/HP switching a wifi chip and just shipping new drivers. there is a lot of development work involved. this is why Dell's new cell phone sucks so much

 

[Jorojr]

unless apple has been working on samples of other chips, it will take a year or so to engineer new iphones and ipads based on new 3g/4g chips.

this isn't like dell/HP switching a wifi chip and just shipping new drivers. there is a lot of development work involved. this is why Dell's new cell phone sucks so much

Dell's consumer products are generally failures. Remember their MP3 player the "Dell DJ?" How about their line of LCD TVs? I didn't expect their phones to fare much better.

I do love their servers and their enterprise support though.

 

[firewood]

So why didn´t Apple bought it in the first place? 1.4 Billion is just a fraction of Apple´s capital.

Apple wants to buy baseband chips from multiple suppliers (whoever has the best chip that particular technology round), and negotiate price. Much harder to do if you own a competing baseband company.

Plus Intel can possibly fab Infineon's chips (maybe even in one of their older fabs). Apple can't.

 

[darkplanets]

My only singular concern lies with Intel itself, and its previous actions.

While this acquisition is all fine and dandy, does this mean that they're now going to try to force people's hands towards atom chipsets? It would appear so, just like they did with their GPU spat that ended up with everyone getting their horrible integrated GPU for mobile mobos. Not exactly cool in my book, but I guess business is business.

If this does become the case however, I would bet that Apple would give them the proverbial finger and go elsewhere; they already invested in ARM and I don't see them switching anytime soon. Besides, the GPU in the iProd lines is already rather nice, I doubt any of intels offerings give a) significant performance boosts while b) sipping power like the current SOC does. Apple's made it clear that battery life > performance for mobiles, so I doubt Intel's offerings will be incorporated anytime soon.

 

[wizard]

Here is my perspective.

This is a back door way for Intel to get back into making ARM devices. The entire professional design market would die from laughter if they seriously tried to put ATOM cores in the Infineons chips. Think about the power usage here.

It is pretty obvious that ATOM has been a failure for hand held devices. Worst it is it won't be a serious contender anytime soon as ARM devices whip it completely while being built on older processes. If they are being built on older processes, in some ways ARM processors are ahead of Intel here.

ARMs biggest issue is not 64 bit solution at the moment. People sometimes laugh at that statement but it won't be to long before we see iPads with 4GB of memory. Apple could most likely hit 1GB in the next rev if they wanted to, though it seems that 512MB is the easy target. In a year or two 3D technology will easily allow for 4GB, at that point one is maxed out.

So ATOMs only potential attractive feature is lots of address space. Unfortunately that address space is accessed by a processor that is simply to power hungry.