Google Takes Advantage Of Samsung's 5G Modem For The Latest Pixel 6 Phones

JAKARTA - Google will utilize Samsung Electronics Co Ltd to supply 5G modems for its next flagship Pixel smartphones. This marks the first win for the Korean company in the US market dominated by Qualcomm Inc.

Earlier this month, Google revealed that it had designed its own processor chip to power the new high-end Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro phones. This move ends its full reliance on Qualcomm, which will still supply chips for the Pixel 5A at a lower price.

Nikkei Asia previously reported that Samsung would manufacture processors for Google, a unit of Alphabet Inc. Two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters that Samsung would also supply 5G modem technology.

Samsung's move to provide Pixel modem technology is important because the Korean company is one of only three companies in the world capable of making 5G modems that connect devices to wireless data networks. The others are Qualcomm, the market leader by a wide margin, and Taiwan's MediaTek Inc.

Samsung uses a lot of Exynos modem technology in its own flagship smartphones in Asia and Europe. But it has long relied on Qualcomm to provide the modem for the US version.

That's partly because Qualcomm has a technological advantage in a variant of 5G networks called millimeter wave, which provides the fastest speeds available with the new network. To date, all smartphones released in the United States, including the iPhone from Apple Inc. have used Qualcomm chips to take advantage of the millimeter wave network.

Samsung told Reuters its new modem technology is capable of using millimeter wave networks, and Google said its new phones will support millimeter wave networks like previous versions, though neither company would comment directly on whether they're working on the new Pixels.

Winning Google's Pixel business gives Samsung its first major opportunity to showcase its chip-building skills to the wider phone industry, which has long been wary of buying key components from its fierce rival, according to Kevin Krewell, principal analyst at TIRIAS Research. Korean companies have never sold 5G modem chip technology to outside companies.

Qualcomm in a statement said it maintains its technological advantage because its millimeter wave technology relies on chips other than modems. "Modems are not sufficient to support millimeter waves in mobile phones," a Qualcomm source told Reuters.