Is It Intended For An Apple Baseband Order? Mediatek Released Helio M70 In Advance, Waiting For Apple Olive Branch.

Abstract: MediaTek released information on Helio M70 a year ahead of schedule, showing its 5G blueprint to the industry and sitting on Apple's "olive branch". Next year, the competition for Apple baseband chip orders will be very interesting, whether Qualcomm is out, whether MediaTek has entered the supply chain, and whether Intel is buying orders.

During the 2018 MWC Shanghai summit, the Department published the information on the first 5G baseband chip Helio M70 that will be shipped in 2019. This chip meets all 3GPP technical specifications, meets the needs of different operators, and uses TSMC 7Nm process technology. It is very rare to announce the information of the new generation chip a year earlier, and the announcement of Helio M70 has shown its 5G blueprint to the industry and the meaning of waiting for the "olive branch" by apples.

It is reported that Apple has been hesitant to give baseband chip orders to MediaTek, which has made MediaTek slightly disturbed.

People in the industry believe that the release of Helio M70 information in advance, not only to the market to show its own 5G technology and IP is quite mature, can better cooperate with the industry to upgrade to 5G, but also for the apple baseband chip order to make a paving. Supply chain manufacturers believe that Apple intends to completely get rid of Qualcomm in baseband chips, and MediaTek is expected to become the baseband supplier selected after Intel.
In fact, as early as 2017, there was news that Apple was in contact with MediaTek and was preparing to produce iPhone baseband for itself in 2018.

Recently, Gus Richard, a north capital market analyst, predicted that Apple would use a large number of MediaTek baseband in future iPhone models.

According to supply chain manufacturers, if the MediaTek won the order of Apple's baseband, the R & D team of both sides will go through a running in period. In spite of the heavyweight customers such as apple, the United States will do its best to meet its requirements, but the R & D team of both sides must reach a consensus on the product plan to catch up with the outbreak of the 5G terminal in 2019.

Industry insiders predict that if the coalition and apple develop a baseband chip, there may be two modes, one is a simple supply of baseband chips, and the other is a cooperative design of baseband chips.

Apple intends to develop its own baseband chips, as Apple announced in 2017 that Apple hopes it will help its production baseband chips. In addition, the cooperation between apple and the United States has become increasingly close, for example, Taiwan supply chain vendors have reported that the apple smart sound box HomePod has emerged as a customized Wi-Fi chip, so it is possible for the future iPhone to launch a customized baseband chip on the future iPhone.

In mid June, Nikkei Asia reported that Intel had begun producing baseband chips for the new iPhone, and promised that next year's iPhone would be able to use the 5G baseband. It is reported that this year's release of the new iPhone, about 70% of the proportion will use the Intel LTE baseband, the remaining will still use the high pass baseband. From the current information, the competition for the apple baseband order in 2019 will be very important. Whether high Qualcomm is out of the market, whether the joint development section is in the supply chain, or whether Intel has a unique order, is to be unveiled. (proofreading / spring and summer)