According to a new report, Intel is set to discontinue work on 5G modems in the near future, and LTE modems will also be completed by 2025.
Read the update
- Official Intel confirmation
Intel’s journey toward the fifth generation may be coming to an end… again. According to a new report by Ian Cutress at More than Moore Per the newsletter, Intel is set to get out of the 5G business, and the WWAN business as a whole, in the next few years, with the end of 5G coming first.
As you may recall, Intel had to sell its 5G modem business to Apple in 2019 due to a lack of profitability, but the company quickly announced a partnership with MediaTek to create 5G modems for laptops and PCs. Those first appeared in 2021, but Intel now appears to be giving up on developing 5G solutions as it tries to cut out the less profitable parts of its business. According to the report, Intel will transfer the technology to MediaTek and Fibocom so that the two companies can continue to develop and support the technology. The technology transfer is expected by the end of May, with Intel leaving the 5G market entirely by July.
But 5G isn’t the only part of Intel’s cellular business, as the company has also been making 4G LTE modems in partnership with Fibocom, a business that has been maintained even during its tumultuous 5G journey. That will take longer, but Intel is preparing to discontinue its 4G products, and final shipments are expected by the end of 2025, depending on partner orders.
While Intel is set to stop all research and development in the WWAN market, this does not affect other aspects of connectivity. Intel will continue to work on Wi-Fi and Bluetooth modems, as well as develop the Thunderbolt protocol, which is set for a major upgrade in the near future with Thunderbolt 5.
We’ve reached out to Intel for comment and will update this article if we hear back from the company.
UPDATE: 03/23/2023 19:39 EST BY JOÃO CARRASQUEIRA
Official Intel confirmation
In response to our request for confirmation, Intel has confirmed its intention to exit the WWAN client business as it focuses on its IDM 2.0 strategy. The company shared the following statement:
“While we continue to prioritize investments in our IDM 2.0 strategy, we have made the difficult decision to exit our WWAN customer business for both LTE and 5G. We work with our partners and customers to facilitate a smooth transition to support their ongoing business and ensure that our customers continue to have solutions for the connected PC sector. Going forward, we remain committed to working towards enabling the industry to bring great solutions to market and ensuring that those solutions work great on Intel-based platforms.“
source: More than Moore
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