Apple recently announced plans to produce its own 5G chips and modems and the company may be one step closer to doing so. The Cupertino giant has announced that it is funding a new chip design facility in Munich, Germany with 1 billion euros over the coming three years.
This was announced through an official press release from Apple which revealed plans to invest in a new R&D facility in Europe. This facility is called the European Center for Chip Design and will serve as Apple’s largest semiconductor facility in Europe. It will also become the largest development site for mobile communication semiconductors and software in the region.
Apple will be constructing a 30,000 square meter site (pictured above) which will be home to engineering teams with plans to move in by 2022.
With this development, Apple clearly wants to reduce reliance on Qualcomm for its mobile chipsets. Speculation on this matter has been going on for several years ever since Apple acquired Intel’s smartphone modem business back in 2019.
Apple chief executive Tim Cook commented on the development saying:
I couldn’t be more curious about what our engineering teams in Munich will discover – from exploring new possibilities in 5G technology to a new generation of technologies that will enable even more performance, speed and connectivity.
