Apple's 5G modem shipments over the next three years will have a significant impact on Qualcomm according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. (Photo: MacRumours)
Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo just released his projected shipment chart for Apple's 5G modems over the next three years.
Based on his supply chain checks, Kuo says Apple's 5G modem shipments will grow significantly from 2025 to 2027 as it sought to replace Qualcomm modems.
For 2025, Kuo estimates that Apple will ship between 35 to 40 million units. In 2026, Kuo thinks the shipments will range between 90 to 110 million units. Shipments will hit 160 to 180 million units in 2027, which is the same year that Apple's modem contract deal with Qualcomm will expire.
Kuo shared in 2023 that Apple's 5G modem will arrive in 2025 and the iPhone SE 4 could be the first Apple device to use an in-house modem though MacRumours did not think that's the case.
Apple's journey to develop an in-house 5G modem has been riddled with challenges despite having acquired Intel's smartphone modem business in 2019.
Bloomberg claimed in November 2023 that Apple's in-house modem is still in the early stages of development and lacks many competitive features.
For example, one variant of the modem is said to have no support for mmWave, a frequency range that unlocks the full potential of 5G as it has better throughput, performance and lower latency compared to sub-6GHz. Most of the Intel code had to be rewritten entirely and the modem failed to function properly.
There was even a rumour that Apple had given up on 5G modem development due to repeated failures. Nonetheless, Kuo's latest projections suggests that this is not the case and Apple is still working on the project.
Source: @mingchikuo
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