Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) hired two baseband hardware engineers from Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ:BRCM), adding more fuel to the rumors regarding the company’s plans to create baseband processors.
Apple’s new hires to benefit baseband processor production process
One of those engineers is Paul Chang, who joined Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) as a senior program manager earlier this year. Previously, he was the RF hardware lead for development of transceivers of basebands. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in Engineering at Carnegie Mellon, his master’s in Engineering at the University of California Los Angeles, and his MBA at Anderson School of Management at UCLA.
Apple Insider added, “Chang has extensive experience “working as the RF chip lead on complex mobile communications product development projects that generated multi-billion dollar revenue and involved hundreds of people from cross functional teams.” He played a large role in spinning up Broadcom’s mobile communications CMOS business unit, driving product development “from the inception to delivery to customers.”
Apple revs up hiring with more jobs
Xiping Wang also started with Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) early this year. Prior to his current position, he was with Broadcom for over 10 years as a design engineer and hardware development manager.
All in all, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) hired a total of 30 mid-level and senior-level engineers from both Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ:BRCM) and Qualcomm. The tech giant also advertised over 50 positions related to RF chip design. This shows that design completion is far from over.
Apple Insider further explained, “Discovery of the hires comes just two days after rumors began circulating that Apple was planning to move its baseband processor design in-house. The baseband chip acts as the “brain” of a handset’s wireless modem. Working in concert with a transceiver, which controls the sending and receiving of wireless signals through the antenna, the baseband processor is what allows a device to communicate over cellular networks.”
The building process of baseband components is difficult. Prior to Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC)’s XMM 7160 last year, Qualcomm was the only company to create a baseband processor which integrates support for 3G, LTE, and EDGE networks all into a single package.
