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| Apple wants to make more special wireless chips |
Apple is hiring engineers for its new Southern California office to develop wireless chips that can replace components made by Broadcom and Skyworks.
The company is recruiting dozens of people to develop wireless chips in Irvine, where Broadcom, Skyworks and other companies have offices.
Recent employment information shows that Apple wants its employees to be familiar with modem chips and other wireless semiconductors.
The move allows the company to target engineering hotspots and attract employees who may not want to work in Silicon Valley. This approach also helps Apple achieve its goal of making more of its components.
A company intends to hire talent for certain technologies, which is usually bad news for existing service providers.
The company is increasingly emphasizing the importance of internal chip design to make its products stand out. The industry's largest company, Intel, has joined the growing list of chip makers who have lost control of Apple products.
In 2018, Apple began hiring engineers in San Diego, where Qualcomm is located. Two years later, Apple's director of chips, Johnny Srouji, told employees that the company was developing its own cellular modem to replace Qualcomm products.
Irvine's expansion is just beginning and the company plans to gradually expand its influence. But Irving's stance is the latest sign that she's bringing more technology into the company.
Engineers also work on radios, radio frequency integrated circuits, and SoCs. They also develop semiconductors for Bluetooth and wireless networking. These are all components that are currently supplied to the company by Broadcom, Skyworks and Qualcomm.
Apple wants to replace Broadcom and Skyworks chips
This work builds on the company's previous work on wireless chips. AirPods and Apple Watch have special parts that allow them to pair with the device. The latest iPhone features a U1 chip, which enables more accurate positioning and communication with AirTag and other products.
The main source of income for chip makers is business. In early 2020, Apple and Broadcom signed a supply of $15 billion in wireless components that will expire in 2023.
Apple accounts for about 20% of Broadcom's revenue. More importantly, the data shows that Skyworks is more dependent on Apple, which accounts for nearly 60% of its revenue.
NXP's wireless chip design office is located in Irvine. NXP is another company where Apple can hire engineers. The company is currently using NXP NXP chips for mobile payments.
The company has a habit of setting up offices near existing suppliers as a first step in replacing these offices. This includes the chip office near the Intel building in Oregon. Besides doing business in Texas and Florida, where AMD is based.
The chip development strategy enables the company to create devices with unique features, bringing a market value of nearly $3 trillion. His chip division is now considered one of his most valuable assets. But the strategy is not without its hurdles.
After the company switched to its own dedicated graphics processor, it got into a public argument with British graphics chip designer Imagination in 2017. Apple's move brought Imagination to the brink of bankruptcy. In 2020, the two companies signed a licensing agreement.