Chipmaker Intel is exiting the cellular modem business, according to reports.
Writing on the More Than More newsletter, Dr Ian Cuttress broke the news, which come as no surprise to industry insiders and watchers. It is a culmination of a long play by Intel that started with the sale of its 5G modem business to Apple 4 years ago.
“Intel is now set to exit all of its Client and Commercial WWAN / Cellular Modem business for PCs,” writes Dr Cuttress.
“However it should be pointed out that this does not affect other parts of Intel’s connectivity strategy, including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Ethernet, Thunderbolt, or network+edge businesses,” he adds.
Where does this leave Intel and us?
Well, the company had all but given up on the cellular modem business, with speculation being rife that over the past decade, the modem side of things on PCs, which remain Intel’s mainstay, never picked up.
Recently, Intel has been partnering with fellow chipmaker MediaTek on 5G modems to bring them to PCs. Another partner, Fibocom Wireless, has been assisting it on the 4G side of things while also joining in the partnership with MediaTek for 5G modems.
