The WSJ denounces a “spectacular failure” of thousands of Apple employees

For years, Apple has built its iPhone technology to be lighter, faster and — importantly for the nation’s most valuable company — designed in-house. But according to an article published Wednesday in the Wall Street Journal, the company just saw a massive engineering project fail.

Cupertino-based Apple has spent billions of dollars and hired thousands of engineers to build its own wireless connection chip, or modem chip, for its flagship iPhone products, the Journal reported. Citing “former engineers and executives at the company familiar with the project,” most of whom were anonymous, the report said the company had planned to include the chip in this month’s iPhone 15 rollout – this, but tests carried out late last year revealed that the chip was far too slow. and way too big.

So the hardware and software giant will continue to rely on Qualcomm, a San Diego-based chipmaker that dominates the modem chip market and is one of Apple’s most important suppliers. Qualcomm announcement On September 11, it announced that it would continue to supply Apple with its modem systems until 2026; the deal brings Qualcomm billions of dollars a year, CNBC reported.

But while lucrative, that relationship hasn’t fostered much goodwill between the companies, according to the Journal, which called their feud “one of the ugliest corporate battles in history” in a report of 2019. piece. For years, Apple has supported with Qualcomm charging twice for each phone produced: once to license its patents and another time to use the physical chip. Companies argue patents in public audience and exchanged barbs in the press.

Apple wanted to stop relying on Qualcomm, the Journal reported, so after an order from CEO Tim Cook in 2018, the phone maker invested money in designing an in-house modem chip. An Apple-designed modem chip would boost profits from the iPhone, the company’s most popular device, by eliminating the need for the company to buy the part from an outside supplier.

In its Wednesday headline, the Journal called Apple’s efforts to build the modem chip a “spectacular failure.”

The Journal reported that the chip project was riddled with unrealistic goals, missed deadlines, mixed priorities and inexperienced leadership. The leaders would have Initially, I didn’t realize how difficult it was to make modem chips, which must work with various cell phone providers at varying degrees of connection strength to reliably provide data and network services. calls, depending on the point of sale.

“Cellular is a monster,” former Qualcomm executive Serge Willenegger told the Journal, adding that Apple’s delays suggest the company didn’t expect building a modem to be so complex .

Jaydeep Ranade, Apple’s former head of wireless services, clearly told the outlet: “Just because Apple makes the best silicon on the planet, it’s ridiculous to think they could also build a modem.” » The two men left their company in 2018, which is when, according to a Journal source and former Apple human resources manager, Chris Deaver, the company began work on the modem chip.

Billions of dollars were invested in the project, according to the Journal, including buying Intel’s modem business, which employs 2,200 people, and hiring former Qualcomm employees. But testing of the prototypes late last year went poorly, the newspaper reported: Apple’s chips were about three years behind Qualcomm’s best – too slow, too big and “prone to overheating”.

The outlet reported that Apple, which has huge cash reserves and a major incentive to build the new chip, will continue working on the project.

Apple did not respond to SFGATE’s request for comment.

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