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Apple poached lead Intel 5G engineer ahead of settlement with Qualcomm: Report

Reports have suggested that Apple was deliberately trying to undermine Qualcomm’s licensing policy.

Tech2 News Staff|Apr 29, 2019, 11:58:17 IST

Apple’s surprise settlement with Qualcomm over what was shaping up to be one of the largest lawsuits in history raised more questions than it answered. Even more perplexing was the timing of Intel’s announcement that it would be backing out of the 5G game, effectively handing over the 5G world to arch-rival Qualcomm.

With time, a few more details of the behind-the-scenes of the deal are being revealed.

The latest peek comes in the form of a report in The Telegraph which states that Apple poached Intel’s lead engineer on the 5G project, Umashankar Thyagrajan. This is the same engineer who helped develop the 4G modem found in Apple’s 2018 iPhones.

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Apple Insider notes that Apple was unhappy with the pace of 5G development at Intel and needed a supplier soon. Apple has always felt it necessary to have full control over its hardware and software ecosystem and the hiring of Thyagrajan is ample indication of the fact that Apple is intent on building its own 5G modem.

Other reports have suggested that Apple was deliberately trying to undermine Qualcomm’s licensing policies by causing financial damage to Qualcomm and by deliberately licensing cheap patents to make Qualcomm’s fees seem excessive.[caption id="attachment_6535661" align="alignnone" width="1280"]

The engineer had previously worked on 4G modems for Apple's 2018 iPhones.[/caption]

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