“Intel wants to completely divest modem division after discontinuing 5G chips”

Intel is said to be planning to stop building chips that bring modem functionality to mobile devices altogether. The decision would follow after the plug had already been pulled from manufacturing 5G chips.

That reports The Wall Street Journal citing its sources. Intel allegedly hired Goldman Sachs to facilitate the sale of its smartphone modem division. There would be a number of interested parties. The Wall Street Journal mentions Apple, which would have been in talks with Intel at an earlier stage to buy the division that makes 5G chips. So now the talks would revolve around buying the entire smartphone modem division.

Intel previously said it would stop making 5G modems, a decision that followed after Qualcomm and Apple buried the legal battle axe. Although Intel itself did not indicate that the deal between the two parties had anything to do with the decision, The Wall Street Journal states that this was indeed the reason. Because of the deal with Qualcomm, Apple would no longer be interested in buying Intel’s division for 5G modems.

Earlier this month, it was announced that Apple and Qualcomm were dropping all their lawsuits against each other and entering into a multi-year deal. This will give Apple access to Qualcomm’s 5G chips, which would make it more difficult for Intel to gain a foothold in the 5G market.