Apple reportedly working on making its own modems

What might be costing Apple a lot right now could pay off in the long run. Reuters reports that Apple is seriously considering making its own in-house smartphone modems so that it won’t have to rely on the likes of Intel and Qualcomm to make it for them. The report cites two anonymous sources who are said to be familiar with the matter. The sources claim Apple has shifted engineering staff that worked on modem technology in the supply chain division to its in-house hardware tech division. Report claims Johny Srouji, Apple’s senior vice president of hardware technologies, has also taken over the company’s modem design efforts last month.

Modems are integral for phones to connect to wireless network towers. Qualcomm used to supply these for Apple before their relationship turned sour. Intel took over but rumour has it Apple isn’t particularly happy with the company’s performance. It makes sense then that they might want to shift to making their own modems. Some of its Android competitors, like Huawei and Samsung, already make their own modems.