Despite focusing its attention on the more expensive iPhones in recent years, Apple apparently isn’t ignoring the low-end smartphone market, with plans to launch a new generation of the SE.
“Apple has restarted the iPhone SE 4 and will adopt an in-house 5G baseband chip,” according to noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
“The significant decline in Qualcomm’s Apple orders in the foreseeable future is a foregone conclusion.”
This comes as a turnaround of sorts, after Kuo reported last month that Apple had abandoned such plans.
According to Kuo, who speaks to manufacturers and management across all levels of the production and distribution chain, the iPhone SE 4 will feature an OLED display instead of an LCD, which Kuo notes is the biggest change.
“Overall, the SE 4 is a minor modification of the 6.1-inch iPhone 14,” he explains.
“The new iPhone SE 4 will equip with Apple’s 5G baseband chip produced by a 4nm process (similar to 5nm) and will only support Sub-6GHz as the current plan.
“It’s still being determined whether the iPhone 16 series will use Apple’s 5G baseband chip. The main challenge lies in whether Apple can overcome the technical obstacles related to mmWave and satellite communications.
“Nevertheless, once the SE 4 starts using Apple’s 5G baseband chip, it’s a foregone conclusion that Qualcomm’s Apple orders will decline significantly in the foreseeable future.
“Assuming the mass production of the SE 4 goes smoothly in 1H24, the iPad and Apple Watch, which have lower technical requirements, will soon abandon Qualcomm’s baseband chips, too.
“This move will benefit Apple’s hardware gross margin, while Qualcomm’s Apple business will decline significantly in the next 2-3 years.”
While a lot of this is speculation, it’s no secret that Apple has been advancing plans to bring its chip production in-house.
