Intel team of 1,000 people working on iPhone modem, foundry SoC

[Nothingness]

Seems LG is joining Intel as a foundry customer for their SoCs.

http://english.hankyung.com/news/apps/news.view?popup=0&nid=0&c1=03&newscate=1&nkey=201510210644401

LG designs SoC based on ARM CPU. It isn't clear what that supposed cooperation would use as CPU, but if that's still ARM then it'd be a very strong signal against foundries... And against x86 in phones :biggrin:

 

[NTMBK]

I thought LG were just going with an Intel modem? Switching to Intel fabbing the SoC this late in the game seems... Unlikely, given that they were meant to launch in 2015.

 

[witeken]

I thought LG were just going with an Intel modem? Switching to Intel fabbing the SoC this late in the game seems... Unlikely, given that they were meant to launch in 2015.

I don't think they're going with Intel (the Nuclun 1 isn't), but why would it be late in the game? Intel has some unannounced foundry customer(s), so who knows.

But apparently they will use the XMM 7320 modem, so that's good for Intel.

 

[NTMBK]

I don't think they're going with Intel (the Nuclun 1 isn't), but why would it be late in the game? Intel has some unannounced foundry customer(s), so who knows.

But apparently they will use the XMM 7320 modem, so that's good for Intel.

If Intel had a big foundry win like the SoC inside the LG flagship, they would have mentioned something on the investor call- even just a vague "we have a big win in the pipeline", to reassure investors. They didn't, implying that if there is a deal it was made in the last week.

But yeah, good modem win!

 

[Arachnotronic]

If Intel had a big foundry win like the SoC inside the LG flagship, they would have mentioned something on the investor call- even just a vague "we have a big win in the pipeline", to reassure investors. They didn't, implying that if there is a deal it was made in the last week.

But yeah, good modem win!

The collaboration is said to have begun fairly recently, so it's not something that would be material to earnings for at least another year or so. Intel has also said that it is aiming to address the phone market with "partnerships"; a collaboration between LG and Intel would make for, well, an interesting partnership.

LG and Intel combined could probably make better phone SoCs than what either LG or Intel could do individually.

That being said, it'd be good to have more than one (credible) source on this before believing it fully.

 

[NTMBK]

The collaboration is said to have begun fairly recently, so it's not something that would be material to earnings for at least another year or so. Intel has also said that it is aiming to address the phone market with "partnerships"; a collaboration between LG and Intel would make for, well, an interesting partnership.

LG and Intel combined could probably make better phone SoCs than what either LG or Intel could do individually.

That being said, it'd be good to have more than one (credible) source on this before believing it fully.

I was actually getting slightly confused due to two different sets of reports about Intel and LG; this is the other one: http://www.fudzilla.com/news/processors/39066-lg-nuclun-2-soc-pushed-to-2016 (Fudzilla, so make what you will of that.) I got the "2016 Nuclun 2" from the FZ one stuck in my head and thought that came from the report ShintaiDK posted, which is why I was so skeptical- an LG SoC fabbed by Intel doesn't sound crazy, but a 2016 Nuclun 2 fabbed by Intel certainly does!

Nuclun 2 with Intel external modem, followed by a Nuclun 3 in 2017 with integrated Intel modem, fabbed by Intel? Yeah, I can buy that.

 

[Arachnotronic]

Nuclun 2 with Intel external modem, followed by a Nuclun 3 in 2017 with integrated Intel modem, fabbed by Intel? Yeah, I can buy that.

Me too. Where else can LG get a modem to integrate into an SoC without going to Qualcomm (and in that case why bother doing an in-house AP?)