Apple, Broadcom Extend Chip Partnership Through 2031

US semiconductor manufacturer Broadcom announced on Monday that it has agreed with tech giant Apple to extend their strategic partnership through 2031. Under the renewed agreement, the two companies will continue collaborating on the development and supply of several specialised custom chips. Following the announcement, Broadcom's shares rose by nearly 4 percent in pre-market trading.

Broadcom has long been one of Apple's key component suppliers. The company provides a significant portion of the custom radio frequency chips, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity chips, and other networking semiconductors used in the iPhone.

According to financial analysts, Apple is one of Broadcom's largest customers, accounting for approximately 20 percent of the chipmaker's annual revenue. The partnership is therefore considered crucial to Broadcom's long-term business growth.

The extension of the agreement is viewed as part of Apple's broader strategy to strengthen and secure its long-term supply chain. In 2023, the two companies announced a multibillion-dollar agreement under which Broadcom would manufacture 5G radio frequency components for Apple.

The growing demand for custom chips has intensified amid the rapid expansion of the artificial intelligence (AI) market, particularly in AI inference—the automated process by which AI models generate responses to user prompts. Against this backdrop, maintaining a long-term partnership with an experienced supplier such as Broadcom is expected to help Apple preserve a competitive advantage in the hardware market.

Although Apple has spent the past several years developing its own processors—including the A-series and M-series chips—and recently introduced its in-house C1 cellular modem, the company continues to rely on Broadcom for advanced wireless connectivity and radio frequency components.

//DBTech/BMT/OR//