Apple Inc. and Qualcomm Inc.'s settlement of a long-running licensing dispute lifted an overhang that sent shares of the chipmaker soaring. But the agreement is unlikely to significantly speed up the release of a 5G iPhone, analysts said.

Shares of Qualcomm climbed 38.3% between the market close of April 15 and April 17, while shares of Apple gained about 2% over the same two-day period. Qualcomm and Apple announced the litigation settlement and a six-year licensing agreement April 16. Hours later, Intel Corp. announced plans to exit the 5G smartphone modem business, leaving Qualcomm as the sole U.S.-based supplier of 5G modem chips during a time when U.S. legislators have expressed security concerns about foreign technology providers, particularly those based in China.

While there has been some indication that Apple is developing its own 5G modem, the company is not expected to launch a 5G iPhone until at least 2020. Qualcomm in February released its Snapdragon X55 5G modem. However, analysts said the engineering work required for Apple to release a 5G iPhone with a Qualcomm chip would have to be underway already to significantly speed up the timeline to a 5G iPhone.

"It could possibly happen where they could get a 5G phone in by the end of the year, but it's unlikely," said Phil Solis, research director, connectivity and smartphone semiconductors at IDC, in an interview. "Typically the phone would have been designed already by now. In the earlier part of this year, they would have been choosing the component suppliers, they would have the design locked down and tested."

Patrick Moorhead, president and principal analyst at Moor Insights and Strategy, agreed that the settlement would most likely not result in Apple releasing a 5G phone into the market sooner than previously expected.

"If Apple had some contingency engineering work being done, maybe kicking tires on the first version of the Qualcomm 5G modem, I could see if they put a lot of effort into it being there in October of 2020 — and probably worst case, the second quarter of 2021," he said in an interview.

Asked about how U.S. security concerns about foreign technology could impact Qualcomm's U.S. business, Moorhead said that he believes Qualcomm will continue to garner most, if not all, U.S. market share, but Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and MediaTek Inc. will still be able to participate in the market.

Argus Research analyst Jim Kelleher wrote in an April 17 research note that Apple is likely to benefit from the Qualcomm settlement.

"While CEO Cook may be grumpy about this outcome, the Qualcomm cost burden on Apple was never too severe, likely coming in below $25 per device for licensing and chips — on devices that in some cases retail for more than $1,100," he wrote. "Apple is now much better positioned to fully compete in the coming battle for 5G device market share."

Endpoint Technologies President Roger Kay said he believes that the settlement could expedite Apple's timeline for a 5G product introduction by about six months, while the rest of the market will remain on its current timeline, including rival smartphone makers like Samsung that are on track to release 5G phones to U.S. customers this year. Even so, analysts noted that the market coverage for 5G remains sparse in the U.S. to date.

Kay said there also is a possibility that Apple may pursue Intel's 5G assets.

"Apple is already running Intel's 5G efforts for the most part. For them to just step in, and buy it, the theory for them is ... they would like to get out from under Qualcomm in some way," he said.

However, with a new six-year patent licensing agreement and a multiyear deal for Apple to use Qualcomm chips, Apple would not likely be in a position to use its own chips any time soon.