Huawei’s position as 5G chip maker strengthened after Apple settles dispute with Qualcomm
- The global market for 5G chipsets in smartphones is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 75 per cent between 2019 and 2024
The truce between iPhone maker Apple and semiconductor giant Qualcomm has redrawn the battle lines in the 5G chip market just as smartphone makers and carriers begin to move forward with trial deployments of the ultra-fast networks.
The two US technology giants last week settled an acrimonious two-year fight, which had threatened the sale of iPhones in several countries including China, with Apple signing a six-year licensing deal with Qualcomm under which it will use Qualcomm chips for its iPhones.
Within a few hours, Intel, which has supplied modem chips for iPhones since 2017 and was developing 5G devices for Apple, said it was withdrawing from the market for 5G chips for smartphones, but will continue 5G investment in other product areas.
That put Shenzhen-based Huawei Technologies in the spotlight as a major player up against Qualcomm in the 5G modem chip market even though the Chinese company currently only uses the devices in its own phones.
Huawei’s 5G chip, the Balong 5000, is at least six months ahead of Qualcomm’s similar offering, according to Jean Baptiste Su, principal analyst with Atherton Research.
Qualcomm’s X55 chip, unveiled at MWC 2019 earlier this year, will not appear in 5G smartphones until the end of this year or in early 2020 . The Balong 5000 will start shipping in June, first with the Huawei Mate X phone and the Mate 20 X 5G in July, he added.
