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A technician is working on a Globalstar satellite.
VINCENZO PINTO / AFP / Getty Images
Space and satellite stocks are rising as it is speculated that the next version of the iPhone will be equipped to handle space-based mobile communications, making calls even out of reach. cellular networks.
MacRumors News reported on Sunday that Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst at TF International Securities known for leveraging contacts from the Asian supply chain for information on Apple products, believes the iPhone 13 will use a Qualcomm chip that support a low earth orbit for satellite communications.
Apple (ticker: AAPL) was not immediately available for comment. But investors take it seriously.
Stock in
Globalstar
(GSAT), which the MacRumors article said is more likely to work with Apple in terms of technology and service coverage, up 44% early in trading Monday.
Iridium Communications
(IRDM) shares rose about 9%. These two already operate more than 100 satellites in low Earth orbit, or LEO.
Stock in
AST SpaceMobile
(ASTS), which is building a constellation of small, low-cost LEO satellites to provide mobile communications infrastructure, gained about 7%. He
S&P 500,
meanwhile, it increased by 0.4% and the
Dow Jones industrial average
it was flat.
“Providing satellite connectivity to a smartphone has been a real grail that has never been achieved,” William Blair analyst Louie DiPalma wrote in a report Sunday. Space-based connectivity, so far, has required larger devices. SpaceX, for example, has at least 100,000 users of its space-based Internet service, but this system requires relatively large terminal hardware to connect to the web.
Iridium operates about 66 LEO satellites, while Globalstar has about 48.
“If Apple /
Qualcomm
/ Iridium finds out that, in theory, an iPhone user could make calls without using their mobile operator, ”DiPalma wrote. “Note that Iridium connectivity would be low-capacity, so a mobile carrier would still be needed.”
DiPalma values Iridium as Outperform, which is Blair’s equivalent to Buy, but has no stock price target. It does not cover Globalstar shares.
Shares of Apple (AAPL) rose 2.2%, while Qualcomm (QCOM) gained 1.6% as investors weighed in on the complex implications of the space-based mobile communications infrastructure.
Investors in existing mobile phone providers and the infrastructure they use do not seem to be concerned. Actions of
AT&T
(T) increased 0.1%. The technology would not necessarily affect your business, as it could license what are actually space-based mobile towers. Stock in
American tower
(AMT), a real estate investment fund that owns mobile phone towers, gained 1.4%.
Launch service companies
Rocket Lab USA
(RKLB) i
Astra Space
(ASTR), which could benefit if more companies want to put satellites in space, would have dropped 3% and 19%, respectively. An Astra test flight did not reach orbit on Saturday, reminding investors of the risks companies face.
Write to Al Root at [email protected]