When it comes to mobile, Qualcomm is the clear leader for mobile chipsets. Intel has tried their hand at trying to get in on the market, but it’s safe to say that they haven’t really had much success, at least not on the same level that they have had with their computer chips, but all of that could change soon.
Intel has always offered its foundry services to help build chips for their customers, but only if they are based on Intel’s own architecture. However that has changed recently when Intel announced that they will now be building chips based on the ARM architecture which is used by the likes of Apple, Samsung, Qualcomm, and so on, and based on this, it has been suggested by analysts that Intel could very well provide chips for Apple’s iOS devices in the future.
According to Counterpoint Research director Neil Shah, “Apple likes diversification in case there is a supply issue. Apple can also use it as leverage to bargain Intel chip pricing for its Macs and so forth.” Right now TSMC is making Apple’s A-series chipsets, such as the A10 for this year’s iPhone, although we have also heard that they will be working on the A11 for 2017, so if and when Intel does get around to manufacturing the chipsets for Apple, it won’t be anytime soon.
However the report from Fortune notes that because ARM has licensed limited capabilities to Intel, highly customized chipsets like the A-series from Apple might not be one of them. In any case take it with a grain of salt for now, but who knows what the future holds?