Rumor Mill: Intel's modem chips could be in 50% of new iPhone shipments

Intel's chips will ship in around 50 percent of the new models of Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhones, according to a report from Northland Capital Markets analyst Gus Richard. Without citing his sources, he said in a research note that Apple "has been evaluating Intel's model for a while. We now believe that Intel will capture roughly 50% of Apple's modem business in the upcoming iPhones due to launch September 9th." Further, he said, assuming Intel nabs around 50 percent share of modem business in the new iPhones, he estimates that the design win could represent $750 million to $1.25 billion in revenue for Intel in 2016. "This is a marque win for Intel and would go a long way to reducing the mobile business losses," he said.

This is not the first time that a rumor has flared up about Intel's modem chips being inside the next iterations of the iPhone. In March VentureBeat reported just that and said Intel's XMM 7360 LTE modem chipset would sit inside the new iPhones in a space long reserved for Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM), which is the leader in the wireless baseband market, particularly for LTE. Qualcomm's LTE modem chips are likely still going to be in the next iterations of the iPhone. The VentureBeat report said that the Intel 7360 chip would ship inside a special version of the iPhone that will be marketed to emerging markets in Asia and Latin America, though it's unclear if that is still – or was ever -- the case.

An Intel spokeswoman declined to comment and an Apple spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Article