Somebody needs to reignite excitement in the software ecosystem for phones. The semis vendors have an opportunity to rejuvenate the industry, but the changes it would require for their organizations likely means someone else will capture the opportunity.
Apple has signed up to keep using Qualcomm’s modem. We would never say ‘We told you so’, but this development does not come entirely as a surprise. Building modems is hard.
Did Huawei and SMIC break the laws of physics? Or are many of the online claims about Kirin 9000 over-exaggerated to serve some other purpose. We think it is unlikely that this new chip really changes anything.
Ericsson may or may not be attempting to fragment the Open RAN project. Meanwhile, Facebook has made a generous contribution to the project, which makes them look like the only sober person in the diver bar when the fight breaks out.
Apple has a history of relegating its homegrown chips to the Apple Watch. Is that the fate of their future cellular modem?
Analog and digital chip companies have operated largely independently for years, but those boundaries are shifting, which may be opening up some major opportunities.
Amazon’s Sidewalk network shows the appeal of massive ad hoc networks. It also shows how hard it is going to be to commercialize them.
Android is a hot mess. Google should make it truly open source. This would relieve them of a major anti-trust vulnerability and infuse a massive amount of energy to the project.
Qualcomm does not have an easy path to replacing Apple revenue. Maybe Apple will fail at producing a modem. Or maybe Qualcomm could come up with a compelling RF/modem combo that Apple would find too compelling to ignore. Not easy, but possible.
Just for the sake of argument could Qualcomm buy its way back to near-term revenue growth? We take a not-so-serious look at one option. The point is there are not a lot of good targets left.