Apple Family Bucket? Apple is developing its own Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and RF chips

According to foreign media reports, Apple is recruiting wireless chip engineers in Irvine (also known as Irvine) in California, USA, or involving RF, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi chips, and there are also offices for Broadcom and Skyworks.

Bloomberg speculates that Apple plans to develop its own RF, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi chips to replace related components of Broadcom, Skyworks and Qualcomm. An Apple spokesperson declined to comment on the hiring plan, while representatives from Broadcom and Skyworks have yet to respond formally. But after the report, Skyworks shares plunged 11%, and Broadcom and Qualcomm both fell more than 4%.

Apple is the big financier of numerous chipmakers. According to Bloomberg data, Apple-related revenue accounts for 60% of Skyworks revenue. For Broadcom, 20% of the revenue also comes from Apple-related businesses. The $15 billion wireless component supply agreement between Broadcom and Apple in early 2020 will expire in 2023.

Another example is British GPU designer Imagination. Apple's decision to start developing its own GPU in 2017 nearly bankrupted Imagination, and it wasn't until 2020 that the two sides reached a new licensing agreement.

This is not the first time Apple has entered the field of wireless chips. The most famous before was definitely the entanglement of Apple and Qualcomm on the modem (in order to follow domestic customs, hereinafter collectively referred to as baseband).

Although neither side has improved the iPhone's criticized signal problem, after Apple bought Intel's baseband division for $1 billion, the rumors of Apple's self-developed baseband have not stopped.

Apple has previously engaged in custom components on AirPods and Apple Watch, Apple has also been equipped with U1 UWB ultra-wideband chips on a large scale since iPhone 11, which is used for near-field precise positioning, and Apple has also released an AirTag "anti-loss device" using Bluetooth and UWB technology.

The main reason Apple's job postings involve Broadcom and Skyworks is Irving's place and Apple's historical habits.

In addition to Irving's offices at Broadcom and Skyworks, NXP is also here (Apple Mobile Payment uses NXP's NFC chips), and the University of California, Irvine, known for its RF-related engineering projects, is also here.

Apple has a habit of setting up offices near suppliers, and sometimes that's the first step apple takes to replace it.

Apple previously had a chip office in Portland, Oregon, near the Intel building, in Austin, Texas, and Orlando, Florida (AMD), in Haifa and Herzliya, Israel (with Intel engineers), and near Infineon's headquarters in Munich, Germany.

Separately, Apple invested in power management chip company Dialog Semiconductor Plc in 2018, taking in hundreds of its employees in the UK and Italy.

Apple is still expanding everywhere, with its headquarters in Cupertino, but it also has a lot of employees in San Diego (where Qualcomm is headquartered) and expanding its hiring to chips, smart homes, displays and software.

Apple also has Apple TV+ and other digital service-related branches in Los Angeles, and an office developing AR augmented reality in Newport Beach, near Irvine.

Apple, a behemoth with a market capitalization of nearly $3 trillion, is devouring everything upstream and downstream.

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