iPhones Released In 2018 Could Sport Only Chips From Intel, Qualcomm Shares Fall In Response

The spat between Qualcomm and Apple over licensing fees that escalated into full-on legal war has necessitated several changes for the Cupertino firm. Now, reports are circulating that all iPhones that will be released in 2018 might only have Intel’s chips inside them, cutting off Qualcomm entirely. Once news regarding this possibility broke out, the chip maker’s stock prices took a hit.

As Reuters notes, Qualcomm has been Apple’s main supplier of mobile processing chips for many years. This changed when the iPhone maker started accusing the mobile chip giant of overcharging and then refusing rebates that are worth somewhere around $1 billion.

This led to an ever-escalating exchange of legal shots, eventually entangling other manufacturers and suppliers. According to several analysts, this convinced Apple to change suppliers entirely, breaking off from its long-standing partner.

Before this development, many had expected that Qualcomm might have a much smaller role to play in supplying Apple the components it needs to build its devices. Perhaps due to information that has not yet been made public, analysts have started announcing a change of predictions, including that of KGI Securities analyst Ming-Choo Kuo.

According to MacRumors, Kuo now believes that all 2018 iPhones will be made using only components from Intel and none from Qualcomm. As soon as these forecasts were made, the chip maker’s shares dropped three percent on Monday while Intel’s stock rose by 1.4 percent.

If these predictions end up being true, Qualcomm may have to become more aggressive in pursuing Chinese contracts to fill its lost business with Apple. Unfortunately for the tech giant, China has a habit of resisting monopolies that it can’t control, which means that Qualcomm might face an uphill battle trying to secure a bigger slice of the Chinese mobile industry.