Apple is known for ending partnerships with companies if it means enabling a tighter integration between hardware and software. With its own designed GPU, Apple cut off Imagination Technologies and it was reported that the company would stop relying on Dialog, a manufacturer of power management chips found inside iPhones. Strangely enough, that alliance appears to have its strength maintained because the latest report details a partnership that is expected to last through 2020.
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Dialog believes that Apple is expected to use its chips for a significant proportion of its devices in 2019 and 2020. Chief Executive Jalal Bagherli told a German newspaper the following.
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“Apple at the start of the year commissioned us with the design of chips for many devices for 2019 and 2020.”
In the past year, Dialog’s stock has lost more than half of its value since there are investor concerns that Apple is working on its own battery-saving chips for iPhones. If Apple stops depending on Dialog completely, it would cause a massive blow to the manufacturer as analysts believe that Dialog derives more than half its revenue from supplying Apple with power management integrated circuits (PMICs).
Though the supplier stated in December that Apple could develop its own power chips, it also means that there was no risk to its existing supply deals in 2018 and that it was in the advanced stages of working with Apple on designing products for the coming years as well.
“Negotiations over that chip are still ongoing. But we expect to deliver a chip design for testing in the customer’s system in the second half of the year.”
Could this mean that we might not be seeing any in-house power management solutions from Apple in the 2018 iPhone lineup? As stated before, we could see perhaps 5-10 percent of the entire shipment of iPhones but perhaps it is best to let Dialog have all the offers for now.
Source: Reuters
