U.S. technology giant Apple Inc, on Thursday, announced the acquisition of Intel’s smartphone modem business at $1 billion.
In a statement issued by the Intel, the company said that “Intel and Apple have signed an agreement. Where Apple will acquire the majority of Intel’s smartphone business, intellectual property, wireless technology patents, including its workforce, valued at $1 billion.”
“The deal will allow Apple to hold all the acquired patents of current and wireless technology of Intel. Which includes 17,000 wireless technology patents, that ranges from protocols for cellular standards to modem architecture and modem operations,” the statement added.
Speaking on the deal, Bob Swan, Chief Executive Officer, Intel said, “This agreement will enable us to focus on developing technology for 5G network. While retaining critical intellectual property and modem technology that our team has created.”
“We have a long respected Apple, and we’re confident that, they will provide the right environment for the talented team, and the important assets moving forward,” Bob added.
Adding to the statement, bob said, “We are looking forward to putting our full effort into 5G. Where it most closely aligns with the needs of our global customer base, including network operators, telecommunications equipment manufacturers and cloud service providers.”
Apple’s Senior VP for Hardware Technologies, Johny Srouji, also said, “We have worked with the Intel for many years, and we know the team which shares Apple’s passion for designing technologies that deliver the world’s best experiences for our users.”
“We are excited to have the excellent engineers in our growing cellular technologies group, and together with our significant acquisition of innovative IP, will help expedite our development on future products and allow Apple to differentiate further moving forward,” he added.