Broadcom strikes $15 billion deal with Apple to sell it iPhone parts

Hock Tan, CEO of Broadcom

Lucas Jackson | Reuters

Broadcom will sell $15 billion of wireless components to Apple, it announced in a SEC filing on Thursday.

The parts will be used in forthcoming Apple products launching in the next three and a half years, according to the filing, which said that Broadcom and Apple had entered into two separate agreements.

The announcement did not specify which components Broadcom would provide to the iPhone maker. According to a teardown analysis of the iPhone 11, Broadcom supplied several chips used in the iPhone, including chips for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and an Avago-branded RF front-end chip that helps the phone connect to wireless networks.

Analysts expect Apple to launch 5G-compatible iPhones over the next few years, which gives companies who make wireless components an opportunity to gain new business and sell parts that are compatible with 5G technology.

However, it's possible that the agreement only impacts 4G parts, Moor Insights analyst Patrick Moorhead said.

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