Some Wall Street investors were surprised by a report Tuesday from well-known analyst and leaker Ming-Chi Kuo, who said Apple’s efforts to build its own 5G modems for iPhones “may have failed,” and so the tech giant will need to entirely rely on chips made by Qualcomm for at least the next year.
In his tweets Tuesday, Kuo said Apple had previously expected its own 5G modems to fill 80% of iPhones in the second half of 2023, potentially reducing costs and allowing the company to lower the sticker price or take a larger profit from phones it sells.
Apple investors pushed the company’s shares down nearly 3% after the tweet rumors, to close at $137.44 per share. Qualcomm’s stock meanwhile rose more than 3% to $131.60. Apple didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
