Apple Inc is hiring engineers for a new office in southern California to develop wireless chips that could eventually replace components supplied by Broadcom Inc and Skyworks Solutions Inc.
The company is seeking a few dozen people to develop wireless chips in Irvine, where Broadcom, Skyworks and other companies have offices. Recent job listings show that Apple wants employees with experience in modem chips and other wireless semiconductors.
It is part of a broader strategy of expanding satellite offices, letting the tech giant target engineering hotbeds and attract employees who might not want to work at its home base in Silicon Valley. The approach has also helped Apple further its goal of making more of its own components.
Photo: Reuters
Shares of wireless-chip makers slid on Thursday after Bloomberg reported on the effort.
Skyworks fell as much as 11 percent, marking its biggest intraday plunge since March last year. Broadcom and Qualcomm Inc declined more than 4 percent each.
Apple’s interest in hiring talent related to a particular technology is usually bad news for the existing providers.
The company has increasingly touted the importance of its in-house chip designs in making its products stand out. Intel Corp, the industry’s biggest company, has joined growing a list of chipmakers that have lost their grip on Apple products.
In 2018, Apple started recruiting engineers in San Diego, home of Qualcomm. Two years later, Apple chip chief Johny Srouji told employees that the company is developing its own cellular modem to eventually replace Qualcomm’s offerings.
The Irvine expansion is in its early stages, and Apple plans to increase its presence gradually. The company is also still working out its companywide return-to-office plans. On Wednesday, Apple scrapped its Feb. 1 deadline for corporate employees to go back to in-person work.
However, staffing up in Irvine is the latest sign Apple is bringing more technology in-house. Engineers are to work on wireless radios, radio-frequency integrated circuits and a wireless system-on-a-chip (SoC).
They are also to develop semiconductors for connecting to Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. Those are all components currently provided to Apple by Broadcom, Skyworks and Qualcomm.
The effort builds on Apple’s earlier work in wireless chips. The AirPods and Apple Watch already include custom parts that let them pair with devices, and Apple’s latest iPhones include U1 ultra-wideband chips for more accurately pinpointing their location, and connecting with the AirTag accessory and other products.
“Apple’s growing wireless silicon development team is developing the next generation of wireless silicon!” one job listing says.
Another says employees will “be at the center of a wireless SoC design group with a critical impact on getting Apple’s state-of-the-art wireless connectivity solutions into hundreds of millions of products.”
Apple, and particularly the iPhone, is a key source of revenue for chipmakers. Early last year, Apple and Broadcom reached a US$15 billion supply agreement for wireless components that ends in 2023.
Apple accounts for about 20 percent of Broadcom’s sales, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Skyworks is even more dependent on Apple, which makes up nearly 60 percent of its revenue, the data showed.
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