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HFCL sees revenue from Qualcomm deal at 6-8 bln rupee
http://asia.news.yahoo.com/060925/3/2qeet.html
Over Four Million North Americans Will Subscribe to Mobile Broadcast Services in 2007, says ABI Research
September 21, 2006 09:47 AM Eastern Time
http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20060921005....
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 21, 2006--Mobile broadcasting--as opposed to streaming "unicast" services--is expected to rapidly become the model of choice for distribution of live television and movies to mobile devices in the United States, and by the end of 2007 approximately four million subscribers will receive entertainment and information on their wireless handsets via mobile broadcast technologies such as DVB-H and MediaFLO.
Senior analyst Ken Hyers reports that recent conversations with major carriers confirmed what ABI Research expected: "The presence of as few as five users simultaneously receiving unicast content from a single cellular base station carrier band can seriously degrade data access for those subscribers. This is further confirmation that broadcast is the only way to get mass market uptake of these services. Already, the market is bearing out that broadcast is the essential method for offering these services."
A recent ABI Research study, "Broadcast and Unicast Mobile TV Services" forecasts that in 2011, mobile TV services will have some 514 million subscribers worldwide. Of that total, the research indicates, 460 million will be subscribers to broadcast services. Broadcast services will have 1.5 million subscribers by the end of 2006. In the US market, most subscribers will be enabled by the wireless carriers' broadcast network partners, including MediaFLO (a subsidiary of Qualcomm), Aloha's Hiwire network, and Crown Castle's Modeo service.
Though ABI Research believes that most of these services will debut at $10/monthly subscription in the US through operators such as Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel, advertising will become an increasingly important source of revenue for mobile broadcast video, and will serve to subsidize high-quality programming.
"Broadcast and Unicast Mobile TV Services" (http://www.abiresearch.com/products/market_research/Mobile_Broadcast_ Video) (Due to its length, this URL may need to be copied/pasted into your Internet browser's address field. Remove the extra space if one exists.) explains the market dynamics behind mobile video, including the key industry players, enabling technologies, and business models. Its detailed market segmentation is backed by perceptive analysis, updated with the latest trends, news and vendor partnership announcements.
It forms part of four ABI Research Services--Digital Media Distribution and Management (http://www.abiresearch.com/products/service/Digital_Media_Research_ Service), Mobile Content (http://www.abiresearch.com/products/service/Mobile_Content_Research_ Service), Mobile Devices (http://www.abiresearch.com/products/service/Mobile_Devices_Research_ Service), and Mobile Operators (http://www.abiresearch.com/products/service/Mobile_Operators_Research _Service)--that include research reports and briefs, online databases, forecasts, ABI Insights, the ABI Vendor Matrix and analyst inquiry support. (Due to length, the URLs above may need to be copied/pasted into your Internet browser's address field. Remove the extra space if one exists.)
Founded in 1990 and headquartered in New York, ABI Research maintains global operations supporting annual research programs, intelligence services and market reports in broadband and multimedia, RFID and M2M, wireless connectivity, mobile wireless, transportation, and emerging technologies. For information visit www.abiresearch.com, or call +1.516.624.2500.
Contacts
ABI Research
Beth Schechner, +1-516-624-2542
pr@abiresearch.com
Jim, thanks for the comments, you may be right.
Qualcomm predicts wireless super-boom
By Stephen Lawson, IDG News Service
21 September 2006
A huge boom in wireless devices is just over the horizon, according to Qualcomm's mobile specialist.
http://www.techworld.com/mobility/news/index.cfm?newsID=6924&pagtype=all
Ubiquitous high-speed wireless data, mobile applications and browsing ability will soon drive demand for 1GHz processors in handheld devices, said Sanjay Jha, group president of CDMA technologies. He compared today's wireless industry to the PC business when 64Kbit/s modems and the Netscape browser appeared in the mid-1990s. Those, too, helped drive demand for chips with 1GHz speeds and above, he said.
Within a few years, wireless broadband of 300 to 600Kbit/s will be widely available and people on the go will demand more processing power in devices to take advantage of new services, he said. To fill this need, device makers will have to fill in the comparatively empty market space between laptops on the high end and cell phones on the low end, Jha said. Particularly in less developed countries, notebooks won't work as the next step up from phones for mobile data, he said.
Growing demand for processing power on mobile devices plays into Qualcomm's business plans. The pioneer of CDMA has aggressive plans for new silicon to be introduced over the rest of this year and 2007. Manufacturers are already working with one Qualcomm chipset, the MSM (Mobile Station Modem) 7200, that has almost 1GHz of speed: the chipset includes both an ARM 11 chip of 400MHz to 500MHz and an ARM 9 running at about 250MHz, Jha said. That chipset will support HSUPA (High-Speed Uplink Packet Access), a next-generation version of UMTS with a higher upstream speed, and will be able to handle VoIP calls, he said.
WiMax will help to change the game on mobile wireless as Intel integrates it into chipsets for notebook PCs, Jha said, though he downplayed the rival wide-area wireless technology. WiMax could become a good technology but needs work, Jha said, particularly in its support for voice and real-time applications.
Flash-OFDM, a rival to WiMax, has advantages because it was developed within a single company instead of by a committee, Jha said. Qualcomm acquired that company, Flarion, last year.
Qualcomm has come under fire for its royalty practices but Jha said his company already meets the industry standard for fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory licensing terms.
Broadcom, Qualcomm Told to Meet on Patents
From Bloomberg News
September 21, 2006
http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-broadqual21sep21,1,1462650.story?coll=la-headlines-technolog...
Broadcom Corp. Chairman Henry Samueli and Qualcomm Inc. Chairman Irwin Jacobs must appear together before a U.S. magistrate to try to settle patent disputes over mobile-phone chip technology.
U.S. Magistrate Anthony Battaglia ordered the two executives to meet Oct. 4 at a conference in San Diego federal court. There are 10 lawsuits pending between the two companies.
Samueli and Jacobs must "discuss a global resolution in earnest," said Battaglia, who issued the order Monday.
Samueli, who built Irvine-based Broadcom based on chips for TV set-top boxes, wants to expand into cellphones and says Qualcomm is charging unfair royalties. San Diego-based Qualcomm says any handset that includes the third generation of phone technology must pay a royalty, which Jacobs says is a fair rate.
"It's appropriate for the judge to approach the issues globally," Qualcomm spokeswoman Christine Trimble said. Broadcom has "a long history of theft" of Qualcomm's trade secrets, Trimble said.
"Qualcomm's false and incredible accusations are unlikely to promote a constructive atmosphere for the mediation," Broadcom spokesman David Rosmann said.
Taiwan market: MediaFLO to compete with DVB-H for mobile TV standard
Kaddy Chung, Taipei; Adam Hwang, DigiTimes.com [Tuesday 19 September 2006]
http://www.digitimes.com/telecom/a20060919A8049.html
Qualcomm has teamed with Taiwan Television Enterprise (TTV) and China Network Systems to offer its MediaFLO technology as a candidate for screening by Taiwan's National Communications Commission (NCC) to obtain trial operation licenses for mobile TV services, according to industry sources. The MediaFLO technology will be competing against DVB-H (digital video broadcasting-handheld) to be the standard for mobile TV in the Taiwan market.
NCC announced the screening plan on August 4 and specified September 18 as the deadline for candidates to submit proposals, the sources indicated. Except for the consortium formed by TTV, a wireless TV broadcaster, China Network Systems, Taiwan's largest cable TV MSO (multi-system operator) and Qualcomm, there are at least three other competing groups led by China Television (CTV), Public Television Service and DAWN TV Technology, all of whom adopt the DVB-H standard, the sources noted.
NCC is neutral about technology standards for the operation of mobile TV services, leaving the selection up to candidates, according to the agency's screening plan. DVB-H has been adopted widely in Europe and by operators in Australia, North America and Asia, and Motorola and Nokia on September 11 jointly announced their advocacy of DVB-H by cooperating to make their DVB-H-enabled mobile devices interoperable with network services, the sources pointed out. Such backing of DVB-H will put pressure on Qualcomm, although MediaFLO has gained a foothold in the US market, the sources stated.
To increase the global competitiveness of MediaFLO, Qualcomm has decided to make essential patents of the technology open to CDMA and WCDMA handset makers without licensing charges, the sources indicated. In addition, Qualcomm has been actively promoting MediaFLO in Japan, China and Taiwan, the sources pointed out.
Under the screening plan for the issuing of trial licenses for mobile TV services in Taiwan, the NCC offers three radio frequency bands, Channels 35 (596-602MHz), 36 (602-608MHz), 53 (704-710MHz) for trial operations in the northern and southern regions of Taiwan. Four of the five operators of 3G mobile communication services in Taiwan are involved in the competition to provide mobile TV services, with each being a member of multiple competing groups.
Source: Industry sources, compiled by DigiTimes.com, September 2006
Mobile phone companies create lobby group
Setting guidelines for future technologies
Stephen Lawson
http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/index.cfm?RSS&newsid=7089
The world's biggest mobile companies have created a body to review future technology, attempting to pull influence back from mobile phone manufacturers and standard organisations.
Sprint Nextel, Vodafone, China Mobile, Orange, DoCoMo, Royal KPN and T-Mobile announced yesterday that they had formed the Next Generation Mobile Networks (NGMN) initiative. NGMN will be a non-profit group based in London and won't push a particular type of network but rather a set of guidelines for future technologies.
"We think that we can speak with a more organised and concerted voice that we have in the past," said Steve Falk, vice-president of global standards at Sprint. Vendors and standards organisations had stronger voices in the development of 2G and 3G systems, he said, but carriers will represent the interests of their customers, the end-users.
The group is already consulting with phone manufacturers but will only include carriers as members. It may also be pitting itself against Qualcomm, which developed much of the current 3G technology but has been criticised for its royalty and licensing practices.
The NGMN is looking toward the technologies to follow 3G systems such as HSDPA and EV-DO. Carriers are still deploying and upgrading those networks, which are based on GSM and CDMA respectively, but even faster technologies are coming down the road.
Carriers will favour technologies covered by so-called Frand (fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory) intellectual property rules, Falk said. "One of the principles of NGMN is an open and transparent IPR [intellectual property rights] regime," he said.
The NGMN believes greater harmony will lower costs and speed up product development for vendors too. "In some cases, 2G and 3G vendors have had to do very costly and time-consuming development on three to five different kinds of technology," Falk said. Being able to focus on one or two tracks, in turn, will help bring products and services to mobile subscribers faster and more economically, he said.
US chipmaker Freescale has agreed to be bought by a private equity team led by Blackstone for $17.6bn
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/5353428.stm
Chip firm agrees $17.6bn buyout
US chipmaker Freescale has agreed to be bought by a private equity team led by Blackstone for $17.6bn (£9.35bn).
The deal would one be one of the biggest-ever leveraged buyouts of a technology company.
However Austin, Texas, based Freescale, has a clause allowing it to seek other offers in the next 50 days.
Freescale, once part of Motorola, is the world's largest supplier of chips for the global automobile industry, and also makes cellphone chips.
'Fair price'
The firm, which has been in the semiconductor business for 56-years, said its board had unanimously approved the proposed acquisition offer.
The bidding consortium, which has offered $40 a share, also includes Carlyle Group, Permira Funds and Texas Pacific Group, as well as Blackstone.
Freescale shares were up 5.8% to $39.44 in after-hours trading on the New York stock exchange on Friday.
"This is a fair price to pay, however we can't discount a counter bid," said Hapoalim analyst Nimal Vallipuram.
Reports in the US have said that other investment groups, including one headed by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, might be interested in Freescale.
If the company decides to accept a counter offer, it must pay a termination fee to the Blackstone consortium of either $150m or $300m depending on the timing.
New microchip
The firm's fast-expanding division is its wireless and mobile systems group, which competes with rivals such as Texas Instruments and Qualcomm.
However in July Freescale also unveiled a microchip which can store information like a hard drive.
The chip, called magnetoresistive random-access memory (Mram), maintains data by relying on magnetic properties rather than an electrical charge.
At the time one analyst said the chip was the most significant development in computer memory for a decade.
Freescale, which has 24,000 employees worldwide, had 2005 revenue of $5.84bn and a profit of $584m.
Anybody see this unusual transactions after hours?
@4:53PM $ 37.20 Sh 1,200,000
http://www.nasdaq.com/aspxcontent/ExtendedTradingTrades.aspx?page=afterhours&mkttype=after&&....
After Hours
Last: $ 37.20 After Hours
High: $ 37.61
After Hours
Volume: 15,213,942 After Hours
Low: $ 37.01
After Hours
Time (ET) After Hours
Price After Hours
Share Volume
17:24 $ 37.20 2,900
16:53 $ 37.20 1,200,000
16:43 $ 37.19 287
16:43 $ 37.20 713
16:36 $ 37.20 805
16:15 $ 37.20 25,900
16:07 $ 37.20 2,900
16:06 $ 37.19 367
16:06 $ 37.19 2,083
16:06 $ 37.19 1,000
16:06 $ 37.19 1,000
16:06 $ 37.20 533
16:06 $ 37.19 1,917
16:02 $ 37.16 200
16:02 $ 37.17 100
16:01 $ 37.13 200
Verizon Wireless to Debut Qualcomm Mobile TV Service Next Year
By Peter J. Brennan
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=conewsstory&refer=conews&tkr=QCOM:US&sid=apflXDIu....
Sept. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Verizon Wireless, the second-largest U.S. mobile-phone service provider, plans to introduce Qualcomm Inc.'s broadcast television service for handsets early next year.
``It's proving to be very, very robust,'' Dick Lynch, chief of technology at Verizon Wireless, said in an interview. ``I'm pretty optimistic that the customer will be happy with the quality.'
Qualcomm, the world's second-largest maker of chips for mobile phones, is spending $800 million to develop the television service called MediaFLO. The San Diego-based company has had trouble attracting other U.S. carriers. Sprint Nextel Corp., the third-largest, spurned Qualcomm, saying it can get by with its own cellular network for television.
Verizon Wireless will decide later this year when to introduce MediaFLO, Lynch said yesterday at a wireless conference in Los Angeles. He predicted it could be as early as January while Chief Operating Officer Lowell McAdam told a forum at the CTIA conference the service might be ready in March or April.
``That's very good news'' for Qualcomm, said Michael Burton, a San Francisco-based analyst for ThinkEquity Partners. ``Broadcast solutions such as MediaFLO are significantly better than'' the technology now used to deliver video to cell phones.
Current video technology on cell phones is inadequate, showing jittery or halting images. Content is also hard to locate or load, media executives say.
``It's a joke trying to find content today,'' News Corp. Chief Operating Officer Peter Chernin told the CTIA conference yesterday. ``Under the right conditions, mobile entertainment is one step away from exploding.''
Obstacles
If the problems can be solved, handset entertainment could become bigger and more important than television or the Internet because more than 2 billion people use cell phones, he said.
Shares of Qualcomm fell 35 cents to $37.30 yesterday in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading and have dropped 13 percent this year.
Qualcomm and larger rival Texas Instruments Inc. are promising their technology will deliver video on handsets at up to 30 frames per second, or typical television speed.
As many as 210 million people will watch mobile broadcasts worldwide by 2011, up from 2.56 million this year, Texas Instruments said, citing researcher Informa Plc.
Bedminster, New Jersey-based Verizon Wireless, owned by New York-based Verizon Communications Inc. and Newbury, England-based Vodafone Group Plc, was the first major carrier to adopt MediaFLO. It's also being tested by Rupert Murdoch's British Sky Broadcasting Ltd. and Japan's KDDI Corp.
Qualcomm Chief Financial Officer William Keitel said on Sept. 6 the company doesn't expect MediaFLO to generate much revenue in 2007. The company plans to spin off the unit in a couple of years, he said.
Lynch dismissed speculation that Verizon Wireless might ditch Qualcomm's MediaFLO and build its own broadcast network.
``I don't see any show stoppers,'' he said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Peter J. Brennan in Los Angeles at Pbrennan3@bloomberg.net ;
Last Updated: September 14, 2006 08:26 EDT
Battle over wireless technology is creating bitter rivals
By Kathryn Balint Thursday, September 14 2006, 12:20 AM
BITTER RIVALS
http://www.paramuspost.com/article.php/2006091400200590
If a barrage of lawsuits and trade complaints is any indication, wireless technology titan Qualcomm could be the most hated U.S. company these days, next to Microsoft Corp.
The San Diego company, which began 21 years ago as a tiny startup with no real product and an office over a pizza parlor, grew into a powerhouse that upset the status quo of the wireless industry.
Its technology helps make it possible for the latest generation of cell phones to access the Internet at high speeds, download music and play television clips.
As the holder of 4,800 patents and pending patents - many related to making multimedia cell phones work - Qualcomm is on the verge of collecting royalties on virtually every handset sold in the world.
But it's Qualcomm's prices for use of its intellectual property that has the old guard wireless giants, such as No. 1 cell phone maker Nokia, in such an uproar.
"I put Qualcomm second to Microsoft as basically the most-hated American corporation," said Dave Mock, author of "The Qualcomm Equation," a book about how the company rose from an underdog in the telecom industry to its position of power today.
"Nobody likes paying royalties," Mock said. "Nobody enjoys cutting a check out of their profits and passing it back to someone else. But that's the cost of doing business."
Like software giant Microsoft in the 1990s, Qualcomm has come under attack by competitors who contend the company has used its muscle to squeeze out competition. They say Qualcomm is overcharging on royalties and giving price breaks to cell phone makers who also agree to buy Qualcomm's chips for their phones.
In both cases, critics say, Qualcomm is breaking a promise it made to license its intellectual property on fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory terms when the industry incorporated the company's technology into its standard for the next generation of cell phones.
Qualcomm chief executive Paul Jacobs counters that the animosity is coming entirely from companies that have the most to lose because Qualcomm has changed the way the industry does business.
He said Qualcomm not only offers a fair deal to other companies, but that its business model of licensing intellectual property has given startups the boost they needed to compete head to head with the big, established players.
"It's the largest handset manufacturer, the largest infrastructure manufacturer and the largest chipset manufacturer all claiming that Qualcomm is somehow exerting dominance," Jacobs said. "Besides those guys, it's the No. 1 and No. 2 manufacturers in Japan and one company that is trying to get leverage on negotiations with us."
"They're trying to spread all sort of stories about what we're doing, and there's very little fact in what they have to say," he said. "There has been a strategy for quite some period of time where these guys have tried to figure out how to distract people to the fact that they're losing the ability to have an oligopoly in the market."
Among the pending legal actions against Qualcomm:
- An antitrust lawsuit filed in July 2005 in U.S. District Court in New Jersey by Broadcom, an Irvine, Calif.-based microchip manufacturer. It accuses Qualcomm of charging cell-phone makers who use its chips lower royalties than cell-phone makers who use a competitor's chips.
- Six separate complaints to the European Commission by Broadcom, Ericsson, NEC, Nokia, Panasonic Mobile Communications and Texas Instruments, which call for an investigation of what the companies describe as Qualcomm's "anti-competitive conduct."
- Complaints to the Fair Trade Commission in South Korea by Texas Instruments and Broadcom. The companies argue that Qualcomm is using its market dominance to demand excessive royalty rates.
"Their intent is to get Qualcomm to lower its commission," said Michael Burton, an analyst with ThinkEquity Partners in San Francisco. "That's the main thrust of where most of these battles are coming from."
On top of the antitrust complaints, Qualcomm and its rivals have generated a flurry of patent-infringement lawsuits and other complaints against one another.
Broadcom, which is trying establish itself in the cell phone chip market, is the most vocal Qualcomm opponent within the United States.
Besides the antitrust lawsuit, Broadcom and Qualcomm are embroiled in five lawsuits in which they accuse each other of infringing on patents.
A complaint that Broadcom filed last year with the U.S. International Trade Commission is also making its way through the system. Broadcom alleged that Qualcomm has engaged in unfair trade practices by selling chips that infringe on Broadcom patents.
A trade commission staff report concluded this year that Qualcomm has infringed on two of Broadcom's patents that help devices conserve power. An administrative law judge is expected to issue an opinion by Aug. 21, and the full commission is expected to render a final decision in December.
The rival with the most clout is Finnish handset maker Nokia.
The two companies have never been friends, but each has patented technology that the other needs. A cross-licensing agreement that allows Nokia and Qualcomm to use each other's intellectual property is set to expire April 9.
Negotiations are tense, judging by the legal maneuvering on both sides.
A week after Nokia filed its confidential complaint about Qualcomm with the European Commission last fall, Qualcomm sued the cell phone maker, accusing it of infringing on 12 patents. Then in June, Qualcomm complained to the United States International Trade Commission that Nokia was importing and selling cell phones that infringe on six Qualcomm patents.
A BLOW TO QUALCOMM
Later that month, Nokia announced it will stop designing and manufacturing handsets that use Qualcomm's technology in early 2007. The move was a blow to Qualcomm because, as the largest cell phone manufacturer, Nokia could have helped spread the use of Qualcomm technology.
If Qualcomm and Nokia can't reach agreement by the April deadline, "then both of us will be infringing on the other's intellectual property," noted Jacobs, Qualcomm's CEO.
"At the end of the day, it's in everyone's best interest to come to an arrangement," said William Plummer, Nokia's vice president of external affairs.
The biggest sticking point - not just for Nokia but for other companies that are displeased with Qualcomm - is how much the company charges for its intellectual property.
Qualcomm got its start in the wireless industry in 1989, when it introduced a new technology that it touted as superior to any other for handling voice calls. But the company was late to the game. The industry was on the brink of adopting another technology as its standard.
Still, Qualcomm tirelessly promoted its code division multiple access technology, ultimately getting CDMA approved as a standard and persuading wireless carriers to use it.
Verizon Wireless and Sprint are among the U.S. carriers that use CDMA technology. Cingular Wireless and T-Mobile use a competing standard developed in Europe called GSM, or Global System for Mobile Communications.
Qualcomm built its business, in part, around the model of licensing its technology for a fee. Almost a third of its $5.7 billion in revenue in fiscal 2005 came from royalties. Much of the rest comes from selling chips for cell phones.
Qualcomm cornered the CDMA market that it had tenaciously built. By some estimates, Qualcomm sells 95 percent of the CDMA chips and owns 80 percent of the patents for the CDMA standard.
Still, only 20 percent of the world's cell phone networks use CDMA technology.
MORE WILL JOIN
The rest use GSM. But when wireless carriers upgrade those cellular networks to transmit music, video and games at high speeds, they, too, will put Qualcomm's technology to work.
The standard for these next-generation phones is called wideband CDMA, which uses a smaller percentage of Qualcomm patents than CDMA does. Yet Qualcomm charges the same rates for wideband CDMA - by most accounts about 5 percent of the sale price of a cell phone that uses its technology, though the actual terms are confidential.
Companies that have to pay Qualcomm's royalty rates say it's outrageous to expect the same royalties for wideband CDMA as for CDMA.
"We think they're charging more than anybody, compared to what they have contributed to the WCDMA standard," said Broadcom spokesman Bill Blanning.
Nokia's Plummer said it's "irrational and unreasonable" for Qualcomm to charge the same royalties for its wideband CDMA phones, where the company has 20 percent of the patents, as it does for CDMA phones, where it owns 80 percent of the patents.
Qualcomm said the way it determines rates isn't based on the number of its patents that are incorporated into wideband CDMA, but rather on the importance of those patents.
Company spokesman Jeremy James likens it to a car. Other companies may hold patents to a car door-handle design or reclining seat, but it's the engine, the drive train, transmission, steering and braking that are essential to building a car, he said.
Qualcomm, James said, holds the wideband CDMA patents that are akin to those essential parts of a car.
"What's a wideband CDMA camera phone without Qualcomm intellectual property?" he asked. "It's just a camera."
PATENTS CITED
Jacobs said one of the ways to determine whether patents are essential to a standard is whether other companies are willing to pay royalties for use of those patents. He points out that 130 companies have license agreements with Qualcomm to use its intellectual property.
He said another good indication of how essential Qualcomm's patents are to the wideband CDMA standard is to count how many patents issued to other companies cite Qualcomm patents. He said Qualcomm patents are cited by 47 percent of the wideband CDMA patents, more than any other company's patents.
Analyst Christin Armacost with SG Cowen & Co. in New York said that looking at the essential patents is a more accurate gauge for judging royalty rates.
"I believe Qualcomm does have the largest share of the essential patents (in wideband CDMA), and it has the right to charge whatever it likes," Armacost said.
The complaints about Qualcomm go beyond royalty rates. The chip makers accuse Qualcomm of lowering royalty rates for cell phone makers that use Qualcomm's chips, essentially shutting out competitors.
Five of the six companies that filed complaints to the European Commission have licensing agreements in place with Qualcomm.
"Qualcomm has illegally tried to exclude chipset competition in Europe and elsewhere," said Gail Chandler, spokeswoman for Texas Instruments. "That's the primary thing for us."
Jacobs says royalty discounting is nothing more than price competition that is good for manufacturers, operators and especially consumers. He said the company has never made the purchase of its chips a condition of granting a license.
Whatever the outcome of the complaints and lawsuits, the impact isn't likely to be felt for years. Michael King, a San Diego-based analyst for Gartner market research firm, said that U.S. consumers are unlikely to feel much of an impact on the price of cell phones because the handsets' prices are subsidized heavily by wireless carriers.
Qualcomm's stock, however, has taken a beating, falling from a 52-week high of $53.01 in May to the $35 range recently.
"A lot of the focus and pressure on the stock recently has been due to the Nokia negotiations and questions about the royalty rates," said analyst Burton. "And certainly some of the noise is around the Broadcom litigation as well as the European Commission complaints, and whether the European Commission will launch a formal inquiry into Qualcomm's business practices. But the company's business has been doing very well."
Sprint's New Global Smart Phone, EV-DO PC Cards
09.12.06 Total posts: 1
By Sascha Segan
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2014486,00.asp
Sprint announced several products aimed at the high-end road warrior at the Fall CTIA trade show today, including a Pocket PC that can make calls in Europe, PC Cards for Sprint’s upcoming EV-DO Rev A network, and a router to let customers share EV-DO connections.
The Sprint International Smart Device IP-830w by Samsung isn’t totally new; Verizon has been selling a very similar smart phone, the Samsung SCH-A830, for a few months now. But as with Sprint's earlier IP-A790 international phone, Sprint has chosen to leave the 830’s GSM SIM card slot unlocked. That means you can use Sprint’s own service to roam at relatively expensive rates, but keep your US phone number, or you can drop in a card from any foreign provider to switch to a foreign number and make cheaper calls. Verizon’s model is locked to only use Verizon’s own Vodafone SIM card.
The IP-830w is a chunky Windows Mobile 5.2 Pocket PC with the latest Microsoft OS, supporting Microsoft’s Direct Push e-mail with Exchange 2003 SP2 servers. It’s equipped with a powerful 520 Mhz Intel processor with 70MB of free memory for downloads and user files; you can also pop in an SD card for more memory. It also has Bluetooth, EV-DO wireless for high speed data transfers in North America (with a modem function to hook up your PC to Sprint’s EV-DO network), and GPRS for much slower data speeds abroad—but no Wi-Fi. The SD card supports the SDIO platform, though, so Wi-Fi SDIO cards might be compatible with the device.
The IP-830w works like an ordinary Sprint Pocket PC phone in the US, supporting EV-DO on both American frequency bands. But when you take it to a country where Sprint’s CDMA network doesn’t exist, the phone will switch over into GSM mode, on the foreign 900/1800 Mhz bands, using the SIM card slot.
The IP-830w is priced at $749.99, going down to $599.99 with a two-year contract. Sprint says they’ll have international service plans sorted out by the gadget’s early October launch. We’ll get one into PC Magazine Labs to review soon.
To make things more interesting, Sprint plans on upgrading their EV-DO network to the faster Rev A standard later this year, most importantly improving upload speeds from Rev 0’s poky 153 kbps by a factor of three or more. A few weeks ago, the company announced the first PC Card for the new network, Novatel Wireless’s S720. Today Sprint followed this up with two more cards, the AC595 from Sierra Wireless and the PX-500 from Pantech. All three cards use Qualcomm’s MSM 6800 chipset.
The PX-500 will cost $199.99 but will run for next to nothing after various rebates and promotions. Think of it as the entry-level card, sort of the follow-up to the Audiovox 5740, which we found in tests on Verizon’s network got slower performance than the Sierra Wireless and Novatel Wireless models. The Sierra AC595 card will cost $249.99, going down to $99.99 with a two-year agreement. We’re sure to have a shootout as soon as Sprint rolls out their first EV-DO Rev A cities. For now, all three cards work on the existing Rev 0 network. Sprint said nothing about Rev A cards for the new ExpressCard slot format.
All of Sprint’s PC Cards plug into the carrier’s new router, too. The Linksys WRT54G3G, as awkwardly named as all Linksys products, is a standard Linksys 802.11g router and 4-port switch that sports a big slot for a Sprint PC Card on the top. The WRT54G3G can take a PC Card’s EV-DO connection and share it out to a Wi-Fi network, much like the Kyocera KR1 and Top Global EV-DO routers. The advantage here is that this Linksys router is formally approved and sold by Sprint directly. In another consumer-friendly move, Sprint won’t charge anything extra for the privilege of sharing your EV-DO within your household.
Unlimited EV-DO service plans on Sprint’s PC Cards start at $59.99 per month with a two-year agreement.
Finally, Sprint and Sanyo announced the SCP-8400 today, a colorful consumer EV-DO phone. The SCP-8400 is a cuddly, rounded MP3-phone with a MicroSD card slot to store music (a 64MB card is included.) It’s the evolution of the Sanyo 8200 and 8300, popular Sprint midrange phones, and it continues Sprint’s trend of bringing EV-DO services such as Sprint TV and the Sprint Music Store to more of the carrier’s product line.
Nokia chooses CDMA to launch its least priced handset
CORPORATE BUREAU
Posted online: Friday, September 08, 2006 at 0000 hours IST
http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=139783
MUMBAI, SEPT 7: The world's largest handset maker, Finnish giant Nokia, which is exiting CDMA handset manfucturing globally, is launching its cheapest handset in the Indian market. It could also be a strategy designed to clear the inventory of its CDMA chipsets. Nokia could not be reached for comments.
In what is probably its lowest pricing for a handset so far, Nokia on Thursday announced an entry level CDMA handset for Rs 1,999 through a tie-up with Reliance Communications (RCL). RCL's CDMA subscriber base is second only Bharti’s GSM subscriber base in the country. Nokia’s least priced GSM handset in the country retails at around Rs 2500. India is one of the fastest growing mobile markets in the world and Nokia, the world’s largest cell phone maker.
The CDMA handset launched by the Finnish vendor is a Nokia 1255, an entry level black & white model targeted at first time mobile phone users. It has a two-way hands-free speakerphone and a voice recorder.
"Nokia is committed to provide the mobile phone users in India a high quality and affordable mobile experience. We are confident that our alliance with Reliance Communications to promote the Nokia 1255 at a never before price point, will be well received by our discerning customers." Nokia India, director, sales, Sunil Dutt, said in a statement. Ironically, both Nokia and Reliance have had a prolonged battle with Qualcomm over royalty and patent issues. CDMA handsets are based on Qualcomm patented technology.
While Nokia has claimed Qualcomm’s policies make it unviable to launch low-cost handsets in price-sensitive high growth markets such as Brazil and India, Reliance has also cited high royalties and high handset prices as the reason for its GSM services foray. The operator plans to launch GSM services in all 21 circles, starting with Delhi and Mumbai, and has asked the government for spectrum in the GSM band.
In all likelihood, the Nokia 1255 model announced by the handset major will not be manufactured by it but by third party manufacturers.
This is because Nokia has already cut down on its workforce at its CDMA factories and re-deployed the facilities towards GSM handsets.
Media reports quoted the handset major as downsizing its workforce at the 185,000-square-foot CDMA handset facility in San Diego. It has also shelved its proposed joint venture with Sanyo of Japan to manufacture CDMA handsets.
Multinational rival Motorola has a more aggressive pricing strategy for the Indian GSM market with handsets priced at around Rs 1500. However, it does not have a CDMA handset at this price point either.
Qualcomm's Keitel Expects Broadcom to Seek Licensing Accord
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=conews&tkr=QCOM:US
September 6, 2006 18:22 EDT -- Qualcomm Inc., the world's second- largest maker of mobile phone chips, said its victory in a New Jersey federal court last week means Broadcom Corp. will have to pay to license the company's technology.
3G Subscriptions to Hit 285 Mln Worldwide by End 2006
By Priya George
http://www.sda-asia.com/sda/features/psecom,id,576,nodeid,1,_language,Singapore.html
Massive increases in subscriptions and the introduction of new access technologies may mean that 2006 might finally be the year that third-generation, or 3G, wireless devices take off. 3G subscriptions, including CDMA2000, are forecast to hit 285 million...
"3G subscriptions, including CDMA2000, are forecast to hit 285 million by the end of 2006," says ABI Research's Asia-Pacific director, Jake Saunders. He says that, "Operators' overall capital expenditure will grow for the fourth year to reach USD 126.4 billion, and annual 3G-related handset shipments should pull past 300 million."
W-CDMA is starting to pull its weight in the 3G stakes, and is expected to overhaul CDMA2000 by about 2012, but CDMA2000 is certainly not out for the count, it has proved to be an efficient solution. Nevertheless, W-CDMA will continue to keep the pressure on, and as end-users replace their GSM handsets, many will default to purchasing a W-CDMA handset, providing manufacturers with increasing economies of scale.
But not even W-CDMA backers can afford to stand still. TD-SCDMA may be taking time to reach commercial reality in China, but it is already clear that Chinese infrastructure vendors, such as Datang Mobile, are re-engineering their solutions to offer a hybrid TD-SCDMA/HSDPA solution that makes the most of both technologies. WiMAX, too, cannot be underestimated.
These access technologies dictate the overall cost of service delivery and the functionality of the value-added services that operators wish to offer. They also determine which camps of vendors (and their upstream and downstream component suppliers) will receive the lion's share of the equipment-spending pie. Intangible factors such as legacy equipment integration, access to towers, backhaul infrastructure, handset lineups, and vendor financing also enter the equation.
"The exciting prospect is that national markets could be opening up to alternative access technologies more than ever before," says Saunders. "If the vendors of the new alternative 3G+ solutions can demonstrate that they can operate alongside existing 3G and even 2G infrastructures, the opportunities for new entrants (or even a few industry veterans such as Qualcomm and Lucent) could suddenly look a lot brighter."
ABI Research's new study, '3G Mobile Market Trends' surveys the current 2G and 3G cellular landscape, identifies markets with the greatest potential for 3G and 3G+ development, and compares the various 2G, 3G, and 3G+ access technologies. It includes 3G subscriber and handset shipment numbers, and considers the operators and the evolution of their CAPEX. The study forms a part of the Mobile Operators Research Service.
Yet even if the current rise in 3G subscriptions continues unabated it will be some while before the mobile operators see returns on the massive initial investment that they've made into the technology since 2003. While 3G subscriptions will add tens of millions of dollars to mobile operator's revenues in 2006, consultants at Deloitte have cautioned that this will still not be enough to pay back the tens of billions of dollars already invested.
O2 unveils first phone in Europe with Qualcomm uiONE interface
5th September 2006
By Staff Writer
http://www.cbronline.com/article_news.asp?guid=C64E968F-2612-4450-AAD8-74A1EB6121D9
UK-based mobile group O2 Plc has unveiled the first cellphone in Europe to feature the uiONE technology from Qualcomm Inc, enabling it to offer own-brand phones with a common user interface, regardless of the underlying hardware and operating system.
The O2 Ice handset is a 3G phone to be marketed in two of the three countries in which the group has operations: the UK and Germany. The phone is manufactured by Chinese ODM provider Pantech & Curitel, and by deploying the user interface technology from San Diego, California-based Qualcomm, O2 gains the ability to offer O2-branded phones with a user interface that spans across a variety of providers.
AdvertisementMatt Hooper, director of marketing for Qualcomm's internet services division in Europe said that although uiONE is part of Qualcomm's BREW toolkit, it can be deployed in isolation. The only requirement is that it runs on a BREW client as a "porting layer". He said it can run alongside Java, and gives access to both non-BREW and BREW applications, enabling the operator to add the latter in parallel, without having to sacrifice any of the former.
It can also trigger a browser session for apps that require internet access, but the phone is not being offered as part of the operator's O2 Active mobile internet service, nor the i-Mode service it offers.
For Qualcomm, the launch of the Ice handset is significant because it is not only the first in Europe, but also the first from an operator in Europe's GSM world. All the other carriers that have deployed uiONE belong to the CDMA camp where Qualcomm already reigns supreme in terms of intellectual property and silicon market share. They are Verizon Wireless, Sprint, Alltel, and US Cellular, and in the APAC region, Telecom New Zealand.
As the underpinning for an own-brand phone strategy that bypasses the big brands like Nokia, Motorola, and Samsung, deploying uiONE opens the way for ODMs, who in turn are major target customers for Qualcomm's 3G chipset offerings, on both the cdma2000 and W-CDMA sides. There are no other formally announced operators from the GSM world using uiONE, but it is public knowledge that Italy's TIM was represented at Qualcomm's annual BREW Conference in June when an exec described projects it had under way with various parts of the toolkit, including the user interface part.
WiMax: The Morning After
August 9, 2006, 12:26 pm
Posted by Tiernan Ray
http://blogs.barrons.com/techtraderdaily/2006/08/09/wimax-the-morning-after/
Lots of pondering regarding yesterday’s announcement by Sprint (S) that they will spend $3 billion to build what the company is calling the “fourth generation” of fast cellphone technology.
Prudential Equity Group’s Inder Singh is skeptical. He says that because the WiMax technology being developed by Intel (INTC), Motorola (MOT) and Samsung Electronics differ from one to the other, there may be substantial obstacles to WiMax gaining momentum in the next couple years despite Sprint’s confidence in the stuff. (That’s a picture at left of one of Motorola’s “Canopy” access points, which is the umbrella brand for its non-cellular wireless equipment.)
In addition, Singh is already raising a red flag for Qualcomm (QCOM), which has been selling equipment for fast wireless service called “CDMA” and could see those sales displaced by WiMax:
In the event that 802.16e becomes a longer-term de-facto standard, then there could be some downside risk to CDMA beyond 2008/2009. While Sprint has accelerated its plans to start rolling out EVDO Rev A in 4Q06, we feel that plans for an EVDO Rev B upgrade, expected later in the decade, have become uncertain.
Piper Jaffray wireless analyst Michael Walkley is holding the line on Qualcomm, though. Walkley rates Qualcomm Outperform and thinks the stock could hit $57 in the next 12 months. He thinks Qualcomm’s intellectual property claims will prevail in a battle with Moto and the rest over WiMax:
Yesterday, one of the larger CDMA carriers, Sprint, announced ahead of the U.S. spectrum auctions that it planned to build a mobile WiMAX network, and it expects to spend $1B in 2007 and $1.5-$2.0B in 2008. While we view this decision as a slight negative to QUALCOMM based on the technology choice versus Flarion acquired technology, we believe QUALCOMM could still assert its patents and potentially collect royalties. Longer-term, we believe Sprint may offer CDMA/WiMAX products that QUALCOMM would still collect royalties.
UBS’s wireless analyst Maynard Um thinks Sprint’s move is basically a fluke, for now:
We view Sprint Nextel’s decision to launch WiMAX as unique given its spectrum position and not necessarily an indicator of a broader industry trend by wireless operators to move to WiMAX. We believe WiMAX has some hurdles to overcome and expect most wireless operators will maintain current paths to [Wideband CDMA, backed by Nokia (NOK)] or [Evolution-Data Optimized, or EVDO, and EVDO Rev.A, Qualcomm’s follow-on versions of of CDMA].
Sprint had to use the spectrum or lose it, in Um’s view, and Qualcomm should do just fine:
We believe QCOM’s Flarion acq was more strategic for IP rather than infrastructure wins and we still expect the wireless industry to generally move toward 3G technologies (WCDMA
or CDMA) first.
The more important thing, from Um’s point of view, is that Motorola is back in business with Sprint, where its relationship as a vendor had lagged:
While Motorola has had a strong relationship with Nextel, the company’s position at Sprint was lacking despite efforts to make in-roads. We believe this WiMAX announcement as well as the announcement that CDMA versions of SLVR and Q phones will ship to Sprint in 4Q06 is evidence that Motorola’s focus on “customer delight” is bearing fruit. We believe Motorola’s renewed relationship with Sprint Nextel could potentially open up revenue opportunities beyond Mobile Devices and Networks to Connected Homes.
And what does it all mean for Sprint? While that $3 billion might seem like a heart-stopping outlay, Credit Suisse analyst Christopher Larsen says the threat to operating profits won’t be as bad as you think, and he seems to really believe Sprint’s claims that it will save money with WiMax:
As discussed on its 2Q06 conf. call, the deployment could dilute EBITDA by less than 5% in ‘08, depending on the success of various products (new revenue streams). We think the network has the potential to completely offset or limit this dilution to low single digits. Potential revenue and EBITDA impacts should be included in ‘07 and 3-year guidance given late ‘06 or early ‘07. […] Sprint should realize savings, as the subsidies to embed a 4G chipset into devices are cheaper than that of EVDO/EVDO RevA. Service should be available in the first few markets in 4Q07 with throughput speeds of 2 - 4 Mbps. Mgmt indicated that there will be products that can interact with both WiMax and EVDO RevA.
But wait a minute: Jeffrey Halpern with Sanford Bernstein in New York has some harsh words for Sprint, which announced horrendous second quarter financial results last week. Halpern says the $3 billion expense is pretty much figured into the stock price, and that Sprint could still be a “value,” but he’s putting the company into the penalty box. After issuing a 30-page note yesterday, Halpern felt moved to highlight all his concerns in two more notes this morning, the substance of which are:
Announcing a next-generation network and highlighting its potential to benefit the company in 2008 and beyond at a time when investors have borne the weight of Sprint’s operational mis-steps for the past three quarters and are questioning management’s ability to navigate its core business in 2006 and 2007 called into question for us and a few of our clients the soundness of management’s priorities. The key difficulty in assessing yesterday’s announcement is that it is simply too early to tell if the planned 4G services for Sprint will prove the equivalent of the company’s $3B failed Project ION or wildly successful Nextel Direct Connect service.
And so…
To that end, in our modeling we give Sprint no credit for incremental revenues or profits from 4G given: (1) the early stage of the project, (2) Sprint’s poor recent performance growing revenue per subscriber on its existing networks, (3) the almost unavoidably low industry batting average when “developing a new market that doesn’t exist today” (Gary Forsee’s words, not ours), and (4) Sprint’s prior experience with Project ION.
But still, he recommends the stock:
We rate Sprint Outperform given the intrinsic value we see in the company. Our target price of $21 already assumes long-term ARPU degradation to average industry levels, continuous modest improvements in both postpaid and prepaid churn (potentially an optimistic assumption), investment in 4G wireless leveraging the company’s 2.5 Ghz spectrum (but no potential upside from that investment), and ongoing core network upgrades.
They write ‘em, I just report ‘em.
Sprint shares are shrugging off any such worries, up 2.41% at $17.03, as have Qualcomm shares, up 2.33% at $34.65. Motorola shares are up 1.8% at $23.22.
Addendum: My apologies for missing a thoughtful note on Moto’s involvement penned this morning by Ittai Kidron, who follows Motorola for CIBC World Markets. When I talked to Kidron in back in March for a story on WiMax, he was fairly skeptical that the technology could ever be a really big market for equipment vendors. Kidron’s expectations for WiMax are still conservative, but he thinks Moto’s involvement in the Sprint project, plus its acquisition of wireless investor Craig McCaw’s WiMax startup, NextNet, bodes well for Motorola’s bottom line — and for the company’s intellectual property position vis-a-vis Qualcomm:
We highlight that Motorola is also making an aggressive move to lock in as much of the IPR in this emerging area, which we believe is important given that Qualcomm’s IPR intentions related to WiMAX have yet to be revealed. We believe Motorola’s strong stance (coming from both internal development and acquisitions, such as its recent acquisition of NextNet) is meant to be an early effort to neutralize Qualcomm’s IPR position.
As a consequence,
We are not adjusting our estimates at this time, but given growing share and no credible competition from the large wireless infrastructure equipment suppliers in mobile WiMAX, we believe there could be sizable upside to our broadband projections. Our current estimates for Motorola’s broadband networking sales include about $200-$250 million in broadband wireless revenue in 2006 and a doubling of that figure in 2007 to more than $500 million in annual revenue.
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Sprint Nextel Announces 4G Wireless Broadband Initiative with Intel, Motorola and Samsung
Tuesday August 8, 1:00 pm ET
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/060808/20060808005742.html?.v=1
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 8, 2006--Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE:S - News):
Sprint Nextel selects WiMAX as next generation 4G technology platform
Unparalleled spectrum coverage creates first-to-market position for Sprint Nextel
Nationwide advanced wireless broadband network expected to cover 100 million people in 2008
Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE:S - News) today announced its plans to develop and deploy the first fourth generation (4G) nationwide broadband mobile network. The 4G wireless broadband network will use the mobile WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) IEEE 802.16e-2005 technology standard.
Working together with Intel, Motorola and Samsung, Sprint Nextel will develop a nationwide network infrastructure as well as mobile WiMAX-enabled chipsets that will support advanced wireless broadband services for computing, portable multimedia, interactive and other consumer electronic devices. These efforts are intended to allow Sprint Nextel customers to experience a nationwide mobile data network that is designed to offer faster speeds, lower cost, and greater convenience and enhanced multimedia quality.
The Sprint Nextel 4G mobility network will use the company's extensive 2.5GHz spectrum holdings, which cover 85 percent of the households in the top 100 U.S. markets - the most of any wireless carrier in any single spectrum band. To access that network, Sprint Nextel will work with Intel, Motorola and Samsung to incorporate WiMAX technology for advanced wireless communications and help make chipsets widely available for new consumer electronics devices, connecting consumers to the Internet and to each other while providing them with the flexibility to do what they want or need to do regardless of time or place.
"None of us today can envision our lives without wireless connectivity or the Internet," explained Gary Forsee, president and chief executive officer of Sprint Nextel. "Sprint Nextel is taking a major step forward by linking the incredible potential of these two cornerstones of daily communications. We'll give customers the power to harness business information and personal entertainment easily and inexpensively -- and in ways that they will one day wonder how they lived without.
"This announcement is another step in Sprint Nextel's broadband mobility leadership, and we expect to establish a first-to-market next generation network advantage. We will have a unique broadband capability for meeting the growing access and mobile Internet needs of businesses, governments and consumers when and where they want."
In working together with Intel, Motorola, and Samsung, Sprint Nextel has the experience, network infrastructure, spectrum and distribution channels to make 4G mobility services pervasive and indispensable for customers. The company's deployment plans target a launch of the advanced wireless broadband services in trial markets by the end of 2007 with plans to deploy a network that reaches as many as 100 million people in 2008. Sprint Nextel plans to expand mobile WiMAX network coverage thereafter.
The company will continue to invest in and offer access to its current wireless and Sprint Power Vision(SM) mobile broadband networks to serve customer communications needs today and into the future. As evidenced by its strong data results and expanding 3G broadband network, Sprint Nextel continues its innovation and leadership in driving mobile data.
New Business Model
Sprint Nextel has created a unique business model designed to foster the rapid deployment and adoption of mobile WiMAX technology in the United States and abroad. Sprint Nextel is expecting to invest $1 billion in 2007 and between $1.5 billion and $2 billion in 2008 relating to the 4G mobile broadband network. The WiMAX technology to be deployed in the network is expected to offer a cost-per-megabit and performance advantage that reflects a substantial improvement in the comparable costs for the current 3G mobile broadband offerings.
Commitments from Intel, Motorola and Samsung in the areas of market development, mobile WiMAX devices and other contributions to Sprint Nextel's core business are expected to accelerate Sprint Nextel's goal of deploying services and market adoption. Motorola and Samsung will also support Sprint's current and CDMA/EV-DO network technologies by creating multimode devices that will support services on both the 4G network and the 3G network in areas outside the planned 4G coverage, and will provide voice service using the core 3G network. The 4G broadband network will offer a complementary, high-bandwidth service driven by data centric devices.
Intel, one of the early members of the WiMAX Forum and one of the key contributors to the IEEE 802.16e-2005 standard, will deliver next generation WiMAX solutions for Centrino Mobile Technology and next generation computing devices. Intel will bring its extensive history in device-to-network verification as well as marketing expertise to expose customers to the breadth of new WiMAX capabilities and services.
Motorola has been a long-standing proponent of WiMAX and will offer Sprint Nextel both single- and multimode devices designed to enable seamless mobility for users, while playing a major role in its WiMAX infrastructure roll-out. Since Motorola is the exclusive supplier of iDEN technology as well as a major supplier of CDMA and EV-DO Revision A technology, it can offer a complete end-to-end solution (from radio access network equipment to both single- and multimode mobile devices) and is uniquely positioned to expand the seamless mobility experience into the wireless mobile broadband market.
Samsung Telecommunications America will be a primary Mobile WiMAX infrastructure supplier to Sprint Nextel and will also deliver dual-mode devices supporting Mobile WiMAX and CDMA2000 1xEV-DO, designed to enable Sprint's Mobile WiMAX users to utilize Sprint Nextel's existing 3G network resources. With its installation of networks in South Korea and other markets, Samsung Electronics is the first to commercially deploy Mobile WiMAX and with its alliance with Sprint Nextel will bring this global expertise to North America. Samsung is the global leader in delivering Mobile WiMAX technologies and offers Sprint a total solution including chipsets, infrastructure, mobile devices and consumer electronics focused on Mobile WiMAX and dual-mode WiMAX/CDMA services delivery.
Sprint Nextel's long-term goal is to have a broad range of mobile WiMAX-enabled chipsets and modules and an array of portable data and consumer electronics devices available from multiple vendors which work seamlessly among Sprint's network offerings. To that end, Sprint Nextel and other leading consumer electronic companies are planning to form a strategic marketing and product alliance for the purpose of introducing innovative consumer electronic devices and multimedia content solutions using Sprint's 4G mobile WiMAX network.
"Sprint Nextel has built its success on being a pioneer - beginning with its rollout of the first nationwide digital fiber optic network 20 years ago," said Sean Maloney, executive vice president of Intel. "With the choice of mobile WiMAX for its 4G mobile broadband technology, Sprint Nextel again helps move the U.S. to the forefront of technology innovation and competitiveness. Sprint Nextel's decision confirms Intel's belief that WiMAX is the wireless technology of choice to deliver affordable broadband access. Intel is pleased to work with Sprint Nextel, Motorola and Samsung to bring the promise of mobile broadband and WiMAX to consumers nationwide."
Motorola Chairman and CEO, Ed Zander, stated, "We are excited that Sprint Nextel has selected WiMAX, and we believe that mobile WiMAX is a perfect choice for a visionary company like Sprint Nextel. Today's announcement is another milestone in Motorola's focused strategy to continue to expand and grow our wireless broadband business and advance our vision of seamless wireless broadband mobility. We expect that this decision from one of America's leading carriers and the largest holder of 2.5GHz spectrum will influence the adoption of mobile WiMAX by other carriers worldwide."
KiTae Lee, president of Samsung Electronics' Telecommunication Network Business, stated, "I believe Sprint Nextel's decision to deploy Mobile WiMAX as the 4G network technology will set a milestone in the U.S. telecommunication industry's history and contribute to further advancements in wireless technology. Mobile WiMAX has the fastest data transfer rate among the existing wireless technologies and is based on all-IP technology. Mobile WiMAX-based services will create a new paradigm shift in wireless services and improve consumer lifestyles. I believe that Sprint Nextel will successfully provide this mobile WiMAX technology based service and begin a new revolution in mobile broadband services nationwide."
About Sprint Nextel
Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of communications services bringing mobility to consumer, business and government customers. Sprint Nextel is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including two robust wireless networks offering industry leading mobile data services; instant national and international walkie-talkie capabilities; and an award-winning and global Tier 1 Internet backbone. For more information, visit www.sprint.com.
About Intel
Intel, the world leader in silicon innovation, develops technologies, products and initiatives to continually advance how people work and live. Additional information about Intel is available at www.intel.com/pressroom.
About Motorola
Motorola is known around the world for innovation and leadership in wireless and broadband communications. Inspired by our vision of Seamless Mobility, the people of Motorola are committed to helping you get and stay connected simply and seamlessly to the people, information, and entertainment that you want and need. We do this by designing and delivering "must have" products, "must do" experiences and powerful networks -- along with a full complement of support services. A Fortune 100 company with global presence and impact, Motorola had sales of US $35.3 billion in 2005. For more information about our company, our people and our innovations, please visit www.motorola.com
About Samsung Telecommunications America
Samsung Telecommunications America, L.P., a Dallas-based subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., researches, develops and markets wireless handsets and telecommunications products throughout North America. For more information, see STA's website at www.samsungwireless.com.
About Samsung Electronics
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies with 2005 parent company sales of US$56.7 billion and net income of US$7.5 billion. Employing approximately 128,000 people in over 120 offices in 57 countries, the company consists of five main business units: Digital Appliance Business, Digital Media Business, LCD Business, Semiconductor Business and Telecommunication Network Business. Recognized as one of the fastest growing global brands, Samsung Electronics is a leading producer of digital TVs, memory chips, mobile phones and TFT-LCDs. For more information, please visit www.samsung.com
Safe Harbor
This news release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the securities laws. The statements in this news release regarding the plans for the development and deployment of a 4G network and the related infrastructure and portable data and consumer electronics devices, including the expected cost of and capital expenditures related to the development of the 4G network, expected capabilities and contributions of initiative participants and collaborating members, expected capabilities and performance of the 4G network and related devices, including speeds, cost, convenience and quality, the expected timing of service availability, planned coverage of the 4G network and related devices, the expected development of mobile WiMAX-enabled chipsets, the expected nature, features and number of portable multi-media and other consumer electronic devices, the expected adoption of mobile WiMAX by other carriers, and the planned strategic marketing and product alliance to be formed by Sprint Nextel and other consumer electronic companies. The words "will," "expect," "believe," "intend," and "target," and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are estimates and projections reflecting management's judgment based on currently available information and involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those suggested by the forward-looking statements. With respect to these forward-looking statements, management has made assumptions regarding, among other things, the availability and performance of related infrastructure, devices and its spectrum, as well as customer and network usage, customer growth and retention, pricing, development, deployment and operating costs, the timing of various events and the economic environment.
Sprint Nextel believes these forward-looking statements are reasonable; however, you should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which are based on current expectations and speak only as of the date of this release. Sprint Nextel is not obligated to publicly release any revisions to forward-looking statements to reflect events after the date of this release. Sprint Nextel provides a detailed discussion of risk factors in periodic SEC filings, including its annual report on Form 10-K for 2005, as amended, and its quarterly reports on Form 10-Q for the first quarter of 2006. You are encouraged to review these filings.
Contact:
Media Contacts:
Sprint
John Polivka, 972-405-5139
or
Intel
Amy Martin, 408-391-5194
or
Robert Manetta, 408-765-7082
or
Motorola
Jennifer Weyrauch, 847-435-5320
or
Samsung
Brett White, 817-992-6770
or
Investor Contact:
Sprint
Kurt Fawkes, 800-259-3755
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: Sprint Nextel Corp.
QCOM Share price is recovering: 34.15 @11:11AM ET Perhaps Investors realize that WIMAX vendors can not escape Qualcomm Licensing Cost, JMHO.
Symbol Time(ECN) Trade(ECN) Change(ECN) After Hrs Chg(ECN) Bid(ECN) Ask(ECN)
QCOM 11:11AM ET 34.15 -0.45 1.30% N/A N/A 34.13 34.15
A quick look back at the discussion on the day of the Flarion announcement
Courtesy of Data Rox
QUALCOMM Equity Analyst & Institutional Investors Conference Call & Webcast
August 11, 2005
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=10780402
Snip from above link:
ABBI SILVER, ANALYST, BEAR STEARNS: Hi, I just wanted to ask about WiMAX and whether you believe based on your understanding of Flarion's OFDM patent portfolio and yours if vendors will need to access those patents to deploy WiMAX which does use OFDM?
DR. PAUL JACOBS: I'll let Steve answer that.
STEVE ALTMAN: Yes, we believe our portfolio as well as Flarion's portfolio would be applicable to WiMAX. And Flarion -- we looked at this acquisition and we see a lot of similarities between ourselves and them. They are I think, considered by the industry as being pioneering in this area. And their patent portfolio reflects that. And as you know, we've been doing work in the area as well. So, it probably doesn't surprise many of you to understand that we believe very strongly that these patents, with this combination would apply to WiMAX as well as other OFDMA solutions.
ABBI SILVER: Okay, great, thank you.
OPERATOR: Thank you, our next question comes from the line of Mona Eriba of Rosetta Group, please proceed with your question.
MONA ERIBA, ANALYST, ROSETTER GROUP: Yes, I just wanted a clarification. There is not a licensing at all between the Flarion and say Motorola or Intel or Nokia regarding the technologies?
STEVE ALTMAN: That's correct.
MONA ERIBA: Okay, thanks.
Report: Sprint To Choose WiMAX For 4G Network
from the finally dept
http://techdirt.com/articles/20060808/0552258.shtml
One big motivation behind the Sprint-Nextel merger was the huge amount of 2.5 GHz spectrum the combined company would own. Before the merger, both companies had been testing various wireless broadband technologies from multiple vendors with the intention of building a fourth-generation network in the spectrum, and despite an investment in IPWireless and comments about other technologies, the WSJ is reporting that later today, Sprint will announce it's chosen to use WiMAX for the network. This would be a huge boost for the technology, which thus far has been long on hype but short on large-scale rollouts. It would also be a big win for Intel, which has pumped a lot of money into WiMAX, with the hope of creating a market its chips can dominate. One strong contender for the new Sprint network was Flash-OFDM technology from Flarion, which was then bought by Qualcomm. But it's widely believed that Qualcomm' control of the technology worked against it, as part of the growing backlash against Qualcomm's IP licensing practices. Choosing WiMAX may not get operators like Sprint totally out of the woods, though, as Qualcomm has acted like it has IP that's relevant to WiMAX. Also keep in mind that this new WiMAX network would be in addition to Sprint's existing CDMA mobile network, which it continues to upgrade. One significant challenge for the company will be convincing consumers and investors of the value of this new network, and that it's not redundant.
Qualcomm, SMIC Form Strategic Agreement for Turnkey Semiconductor Fabrication, Test Services
http://neasia.nikkeibp.com/dailynewsdetail/004851
August 4, 2006 -- Qualcomm Inc has announced a strategic agreement with Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) under which SMIC will provide IC manufacturing services to Qualcomm using a specialized BiCMOS process technology at its Tianjin, China facility.
This agreement will combine SMIC's wafer fabrication capabilities and subcontractor infrastructure with Qualcomm's position in 3G wireless technologies, with a focus on power management ICs.
According to Sanjay K. Jha, president of Qualcomm CDMA Technologies, the agreement with SMIC will allow Qualcomm to leverage the foundry's operation and management expertise in mixed signal technology manufacturing and supply chain management to serve our customers in China and around the world.
(NE Asia Online)
O2 tests out UMTS at 900MHz
04 Aug 2006
One day all 2G spectrum will be 3G, CTO says
http://pda.mobileeurope.co.uk/news/news_story.ehtml?o=2371
O2 is trialling UMTS technology at the 900MHz frequency currently used by GSM operators to carry 2G services. The trials, which are taking place on the operator's Isle of Man network - often used to test out new technology — are designed to see how UMTS protocols and services will work at lower frequencies than the 2.1GHz currently mandated for 3G usage. Qualcomm is providing test terminals and Lucent the network infrastucture.
O2 is keen on UMTS at 900MHz because it means it can cover greater areas in a cell site, wnd also get better in-building coverage than higer frequency radio waves offer.
Dave Williams, O2's CTO, said that the operator wanted to see if it could get an increase in coverage and in-building penetration whilst avoiding interference with other services at the frequency.
"We want to try and prove that UMTS will share the same link budget at 900MHz, and to try and prove that in a real trial," Williams said.
Getting UMTS to work at lower frequencies with the same performance as GSM would help operators because it would mean they could cover areas without needing to site new base stations or equipment.
"What good would look like from these trials is if we get the same figures and link budget as 900Mhz. It would essentially then be an electronics upgrade to the existing base stations," Williams said.
But Williams denied that the solution was designed to meet existing 3G license conditions.
"We've met those [the license conditions] in more or less every country in which we are deploying 3G," he said.
However, the road ahead is not completely smooth for O2. There is no regulatory approval in its markets for 3G at 900MHz, or 1800MHZ for that matter. And although Williams says he thinks there will be handsets for UMTS at 900MHz by early next year, that seems aggressive.
But Williams pointed out that Cingular already has GSM and UMTS services at 850Mhz in the USA, and that the band is already standardised within 3GPP.
"This is a long term deployment effort. Years from now all 2G spectrum will be used for 3G beyond work on regualtion and spectrum. 2G spectrum will clearly be used for 3G, and different countries will take different approaches in allowing that the happen. When they do we want to make sure we've tested the technology," Williams said.
In terms of the technical requirement, with UMTS requiring 5MHz carriers compared to 200KHz channel bandwidths for GSM, Williams admits the operator has some work to do in most of its territories to meet that. There is also need for some filtration to segment services, to ensure GSM and UMTS services can exist side by side in the same frequency plan.
Sprint Nextel may go with Qualcomm's 4G
Could pick OFDM not WiMAX
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=33471
By Tony Dennis: Friday 04 August 2006, 07:44
BURIED AWAY in Sprint Nextel's latest financial results are some very interesting comments from Gary Forsee, the company's CEO. He said: "Our Board's recent approval of our 4G business case."
What 4G network? Other sources have suggested that Sprint Nextel might use, "Its large holding in the 2.5GHz frequency band to provide new 4G wireless services"
In which case the frontrunner would be WiMax. However, the INQ believes that Sprint Nextel may well be considering Qualcomm's 4G technology – OFDM.
Nextel previously tested orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) technology supplied by Flarion. Yet Sprint is very firmly a cdmaOne based network.
In fact, there's no clash here because Qualcomm bought Flarion and consequently is pushing OFDM very heavily.
Another strong pointer is that OFDM is exactly what NTT DoCoMo is investigating for use as 4G. And DoCoMo was first with 3G.
The good news is that some observers think that Sprint Nextel may be ready with 4G as early as 2008.
From the street.com
http://www.thestreet.com/_yahoo/funds/stoptrading/10301264.html?cm_ven=YAHOO&cm_cat=FREE&....
Snip:
Cramer said an apparent change of heart by Qualcomm (QCOM - commentary - Cramer's Take) founder Irwin Jacobs sounds a bullish call on that wireless chip company. Qualcomm shares have been hit hard, losing a third of their value over four months. But Cramer said a move by longtime seller Jacobs to end his preplanned stock-selling program signals that Jacobs "is not a seller down here," which could help the stock to bounce.
TIA Approves FLO Air Interface Specification
August 3, 2006 | 11:39 AM
http://www.wirelessiq.info/content/newsfeed/7897.html
Publication of FLO Forum's AIS to Accelerate FLO Standardization and Further Supports the Delivery of Mobile Media Services.
MediaFLO USA Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of QUALCOMM Incorporated, and Verizon Wireless, which operates the nation's most reliable wireless networks, congratulate the FLO Forum for its success in gaining official approval and publication of the FLO Air Interface Specification (AIS) by the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) TR- 47.1 Subcommittee. The TIA's approval is a significant milestone in the progression of FLO technology's standardization and will help accelerate the delivery and adoption of mobile media services offered by MediaFLO USA to domestic wireless operators.
"FLO technology is the underlying foundation of the MediaFLO USA network, enabling MediaFLO USA to offer an unprecedented set of wireless multimedia services, such as live streaming video, audio and short format content, to mobile devices," said Gina Lombardi, president of MediaFLO USA. "We applaud the efforts of the FLO Forum and TIA on its accomplishment to standardize FLO, a technology specifically designed for the mobile environment. Standardization will open the door to new opportunities in the area of mobile services, such as those driven by MediaFLO USA today."
"Verizon Wireless is pleased to hear of TIA's publication of the FLO AIS," said Jim Straight, vice president of technology development for Verizon Wireless. "Built on FLO technology, MediaFLO USA's network supports our vision to offer the most innovative multimedia services in the nation. We are confident that FLO's standardization will accelerate the advancement and adoption of new innovative ways to deliver a broader mobile viewing experience and rich, interactive tools to our customers."
FLO technology is a new air interface with multicasting capabilities designed to increase capacity and reduce content delivery costs to mobile handsets. FLO technology enables mobile users to see and hear high-quality video and audio, browse news, sports and weather updates, or watch the stock ticker — wherever they are, anytime and without delays.
Designed from the ground up specifically to multicast significant volumes of rich multimedia content, FLO enables wireless operators to cost-effectively deliver news, entertainment and informational programming in clips and streaming video to millions of mobile users at once. FLO provides the technology for distributing multimedia content efficiently and economically without impacting current networks.
The FLO Forum is a multi-company initiative committed to advancing the global standardization of FLO technology. Composed of industry-leading organizations, the FLO Forum works to develop products and services, based on FLO technology, that enable the delivery of advanced multimedia services to wireless consumers. The FLO Forum is organized to promote the global standardization of FLO technology, including compliance and certification benchmarks for the technology. For more information on membership and the FLO Forum, please visit www.floforum.org.
Getting closer to a GPS in every handset
By Richard Nass
Mobile Handset DesignLine
Aug 03, 2006
http://www.commsdesign.com/news/insights/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=191600053
Global positioning system (GPS) technology is far from new. Lately, the cost of implementation for GPS has come down considerably (see This GPS works, but not for long and There's no such thing as a free lunch (or GPS in this case). The result of this drive to low cost is that GPS is finding its way into a much higher percentage of handsets.
One vendor looking to capitalize on the potential of GPS is GloNav, a fabless semiconductor vendor that recently announced what it is calling the "lowest power, highest sensitivity, and fastest time-to-first-fix (TTFF)" GPS solution. The company is so confident, that it claims it will ship in more than 5 million wireless handsets and mobile devices this year.
As a relatively new company, GloNav spun out from Ceva Inc. and the acquisition of RFDomus Inc. The combined technology from these two vendors results in the GloNav offering. The company's DSP-based receiver includes embedded and host-based satellite acquisition and navigation software developed specifically for assisted-GPS applications on cellular networks and optimized to provide high levels of accuracy in indoor and outdoor environments.
While I believe that GPS is important technology for the handset market, I'm just not convinced that there's money to be made there. As you see from what Qualcomm is doing (see link above), they're using GPS as a loss-leader to sell for chip sets. And it's a strategy that seems to be working.
New Globalstar Modem Provides Customers With Ready to Use Satellite Connectivity
Thursday August 3, 9:10 am ET
http://biz.yahoo.com/cnw/060803/new_globalstar_modem.html?.v=1
SkyHawk Integrated Modem Provides an Out of the Box Satellite Data Solution for Those Users on Land and at Sea
MISSISSAUGA, Ontario, Aug. 3 /CNW/ -- Globalstar, Inc., a world leader in providing mobile satellite voice and data services to business, announced today that it has launched a new rugged, light weight and weather resistant satellite data modem that will allow customers the capability to readily access the Globalstar satellite network. The product known as the SkyHawk M1620 Satellite Modem provides a ready to use solution for customers who require satellite connectivity for their laptop computer or other data only applications.
Because of its simple "all in one" design the new modem can also be easily adapted for a variety of applications that require basic communication interfaces. Integrators are often required to go through a lengthy development and certification process to develop satellite capability into their solutions. Because of the time associated with this process, applications are often deemed not cost effective due the specific business case or limited number of units required. The SkyHawk modem is designed to help resolve this issue by providing a more ready to use product, which may reduce the time needed to build the finalized solution.
The SkyHawk modem is designed and assembled by Blue Oceans Satellite Systems of St. John's NL. The product integrates a QUALCOMM GSP-1620 duplex satellite modem board into a singular housing complete with a serial cable connection plus a sealed weather resistant enclosure making the product ideal for both maritime and land based applications.
"The SkyHawk modem is a data device designed to be ideal for those commercial market and individual customers who are looking for a sturdy yet easy to use remote data solution," said Steven Bell, Senior Vice President, International Sales, Marketing and Customer Care Operations for Globalstar, Inc. As for the modem's integration potential Mr. Bell added, "reducing the amount of time needed to develop and bring a product to market is key for many integrators attempting to broaden their potential base of customers and Globalstar is pleased to offer a solution designed to meet those requirements."
For additional Globalstar sales information regarding the SkyHawk modem please contact Derek Graham, Manager, Data Services at (403) 710-0066 or via email at dgraham@globalstar.ca .
About Globalstar, Inc.
With over 200,000 activated satellite voice and data units, Globalstar offers high value, high quality satellite services to commercial and recreational users in more than 120 countries. The company's voice and data products include mobile and fixed satellite telephones, simplex and duplex satellite data modems and flexible service packages. Many land based and maritime industries benefit from Globalstar with increased productivity from remote areas beyond cellular and landline service. Global customer segments include: oil and gas, government, mining, forestry, commercial fishing, utilities, military, transportation, heavy construction, emergency preparedness, and business continuity as well as individual recreational users. Globalstar data solutions are ideal for various asset tracking, data monitoring and SCADA applications.
For more information regarding Globalstar, please visit Globalstar's web site at www.globalstar.com .
For further information
Dean Hirasawa of Globalstar, Inc., +1-408-933-4006, or Dean.hirasawa@globalstar.com
MediaFLO USA and Verizon Wireless Applaud TIA's Approval of the FLO Air Interface Specification
- Publication of FLO Forum's AIS to Accelerate FLO Standardization and Further Supports the Delivery of Mobile Media Services -
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/08-03-2006/0004409442&....
SAN DIEGO and BEDMINSTER, N.J., Aug. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
MediaFLO(TM) USA Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of QUALCOMM Incorporated
(Nasdaq: QCOM), and Verizon Wireless, which operates the nation's most
reliable wireless networks, congratulate the FLO Forum for its success in
gaining official approval and publication of the FLO(TM) Air Interface
Specification (AIS) by the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA)
TR- 47.1 Subcommittee. The TIA's approval is a significant milestone in the
progression of FLO technology's standardization and will help accelerate
the delivery and adoption of mobile media services offered by MediaFLO USA
to domestic wireless operators.
"FLO technology is the underlying foundation of the MediaFLO USA
network, enabling MediaFLO USA to offer an unprecedented set of wireless
multimedia services, such as live streaming video, audio and short format
content, to mobile devices," said Gina Lombardi, president of MediaFLO USA.
"We applaud the efforts of the FLO Forum and TIA on its accomplishment to
standardize FLO, a technology specifically designed for the mobile
environment. Standardization will open the door to new opportunities in the
area of mobile services, such as those driven by MediaFLO USA today."
"Verizon Wireless is pleased to hear of TIA's publication of the FLO
AIS," said Jim Straight, vice president of technology development for
Verizon Wireless. "Built on FLO technology, MediaFLO USA's network supports
our vision to offer the most innovative multimedia services in the nation.
We are confident that FLO's standardization will accelerate the advancement
and adoption of new innovative ways to deliver a broader mobile viewing
experience and rich, interactive tools to our customers."
FLO technology is a new air interface with multicasting capabilities
designed to increase capacity and reduce content delivery costs to mobile
handsets. FLO technology enables mobile users to see and hear high-quality
video and audio, browse news, sports and weather updates, or watch the
stock ticker -- wherever they are, anytime and without delays.
Designed from the ground up specifically to multicast significant
volumes of rich multimedia content, FLO enables wireless operators to
cost-effectively deliver news, entertainment and informational programming
in clips and streaming video to millions of mobile users at once. FLO
provides the technology for distributing multimedia content efficiently and
economically without impacting current networks.
The FLO Forum is a multi-company initiative committed to advancing the
global standardization of FLO technology. Composed of industry-leading
organizations, the FLO Forum works to develop products and services, based
on FLO technology, that enable the delivery of advanced multimedia services
to wireless consumers. The FLO Forum is organized to promote the global
standardization of FLO technology, including compliance and certification
benchmarks for the technology. For more information on membership and the
FLO Forum, please visit http://www.floforum.org.
MediaFLO USA Inc. aggregates and delivers premium, TV-quality
entertainment and information services over its national wireless network.
Working closely with content providers, advertisers and operators, MediaFLO
USA provides the rich mobile viewing experience that today's consumers
expect. MediaFLO USA's scaleable solution enables operators to deliver,
without compromise, high-quality video and audio streams to mobile
handsets. Based in San Diego, Calif., MediaFLO USA is a subsidiary of
QUALCOMM Incorporated.
Verizon Wireless owns and operates the nation's most reliable wireless
network, serving 49.3 million voice and data customers. Headquartered in
Bedminster, N.J., Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon
Communications (NYSE: VZ) and Vodafone (NYSE: VOD; LSE). Find more
information on the Web at http://www.verizonwireless.com. To preview and request
broadcast-quality video footage and high-resolution stills of Verizon
Wireless operations, log on to the Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library at
http://www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.
QUALCOMM is a registered trademark of QUALCOMM Incorporated. MediaFLO
and FLO are trademarks of QUALCOMM Incorporated. All other trademarks are
the property of their respective owners.
SOURCE MediaFLO USA Inc.; Verizon Wireless
SoftBank to test Qualcomm’s MediaFlo technology
By Mike Dano
Aug 1, 2006
http://rcrnews.com/news.cms?newsId=26978
TOKYO—Japanese wireless carrier SoftBank announced it will study the feasibility of using Qualcomm Inc.’s MediaFlo technology to offer mobile TV services. Qualcomm said SoftBank joins a growing list of carriers looking into its MediaFlo offering, a list that includes KDDI Corp. in Japan, BSkyB in the United Kingdom and Sprint Nextel Corp. in the United States. Verizon Wireless has already announced its intent to offer MediaFlo services to its subscribers at an unannounced future date.
SoftBank said it established a new company called Mobile Media Planning Corp. to conduct a “technical study” of MediaFlo technology and plan a potential new service using MediaFlo.
Qualcomm’s MediaFlo is one of a number of mobile TV technologies popping up across the globe. Other technologies include DVB-H, DMB and ISDB-T.
SoftBank purchased Vodafone Group plc’s Japanese operations earlier this year for $15.4 billion.
Verizon Wireless' A-IMS initiative: focus on service continuity
Jean-Charles Doineau, Roger Entner and XJ Wang
http://www.ovum.com/go/content/c,65714
On 27 July 2006, along with its vendor ecosystem partners Cisco, Lucent, Motorola, Nortel and Qualcomm, Verizon Wireless made an announcement about its IMS initiative, called Advances to IP Multimedia Subsystem (A-IMS). This initiative is emblematic of the current development of the IMS infrastructure business: pick up the good in IMS, and expand in areas not standardised.
Verizon Wireless' deployment of CDMA2000 1XEV-DO Revision 0 in October 2003 has kick-started 3G deployments in the US market, putting pressure on Cingular and Sprint Nextel to follow suit. Unlike its EV-DO announcement, Verizon Wireless is not the first tier 1 mobile operator in the US market to embrace IMS architecture: Sprint Nextel and Cingular made their announcements before Verizon Wireless. However, Verizon Wireless' approach clearly has more of a carriers' view on how the industry should implement the IMS architecture. A-IMS places emphasis not only on SIP-based applications but also on non-SIP-based applications.
Supporting non-SIP-based applications is really the key to ensuring service continuity during the core network evolution. This has not been the focus of IMS specifications so far, which assume in Release 4 that a VoIP move has already happened in the core before moving to IMS in Release 5. As a consequence, the standards consider there to be a de facto approach to service execution, which is agnostically based on SIP, and have often neglected to take into consideration other sorts of traffic, whether IP-based or not.
Verizon Wireless and its partners have been working on such issues for the past twelve months. One of the main areas in which they have been working is end-to-end mobile VoIP. This aims to provide truly mobile, high-quality voice services that an operator can deploy as a viable replacement for existing cellular voice services, from access to core. A-IMS focuses on optimising voice latencies, whilst at the same time providing the operator with the ability to manage and control the voice traffic using an IMS-compliant service control plane.
A-IMS also focuses on providing end-to-end security features and management of services for business customers, as well as expanding some fixed services into the mobile market, such as IPTV.
This work complements the work done in 3GPP and 3GPP2. Both standardisation bodies more or less assume, at least before Release 7, that service providers will operate multimedia combinational services using SIP. These services, combining voice and data in realtime communication flows, can really be seen as the future of telephony. However, surprisingly enough, preparing this move to the future of telephony via the introduction of non-SIP VoIP in the access network has not been considered - leaving open a gap that Verizon Wireless fills with it's A-IMS framework.
According to Verizon Wireless, the A-IMS task force is in the process of submitting suggestions to not only 3GPP2 but also 3GPP and TISPAN. These suggestions could lead service providers considering IMS to follow different paths for the introduction of IMS services:
the value-added services path: leaving voice services operation in the TDM plane, and building SIP combinational value-added services at the same time. Gradually pushing end users into using more SIP-based combinational value-added services instead of voice
the voice migration path: move to VoIP first and develop through telephony over IP (ToIP) an attractive end-user experience that will encourage usage of combinational services over time.
Figure 1 illustrates Verizon Wireless' view on SIP and non-SIP based services that will be supported by A-IMS.
Figure 1 Examples of services that will be supported by A-IMS
Source: Verizon Wireless
Regardless of how this will play out in the next couple of years, by supporting both SIP and non-SIP applications, A-IMS focuses on seamless service migration during the evolution of the core network architecture. It represents a very good example of what could be expected from carriers wishing to move to VoIP using an IMS-compliant evolutionary path.
Jean-Charles Doineau leads Ovum's Service Infrastructure research practice, which focuses on the applications market that enables service provisioning in the telecoms space.
Roger Entner is the VP Wireless Telecoms for Ovum, covering market developments, technology trends and companies in the North American market place.
XJ Wang is a Research Director with Ovum. He focuses on application and service platforms, wireless infrastructure, new business models of telecoms equipment manufacturers, and telecoms market strategy and trends in the greater China area.
O2, Manx Telecom, Lucent Technologies and QUALCOMM Conducting 3G UMTS/HSDPA Field Trial Using 900 MHz Spectrum on the Isle of Man
http://business.itbusinessnet.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=53167
July 27, 2006 -- North America, BUSINESS WIRE -- Deploying Mobile Technology at Lower Frequencies Can Help Operators Cost-Effectively Deliver UMTS/HSDPA Services and Improve Coverage Significantly
O2, Manx Telecom (a wholly owned subsidiary of O2), Lucent Technologies (NYSE: LU), and QUALCOMM (NASDAQ: QCOM) today announced they are conducting a third-generation (3G) UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) and HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) field trial using 900 MHz spectrum on the Isle of Man. During the trial, which began yesterday, the companies can leverage this lower frequency to extend UMTS voice and HSDPA data coverage and are investigating and evaluating the potential benefits of deploying UMTS at 900 MHz as compared to 2100 MHz.
As part of this trial, Lucent is providing its UMTS/HSDPA base station products developed for the 900 MHz spectrum band, and QUALCOMM is providing test terminals based on the Mobile Station Modem(TM) (MSM(TM)) MSM6280(TM) chipset, which includes the RFR6275(TM) and RTR6275(TM) radio frequency integrated circuits. Deploying UMTS/HSDPA technology in 900 MHz spectrum can help mobile operators cost-effectively deliver UMTS/HSDPA services because the lower frequency provides a significant increase in the coverage area of a base station and, potentially, enables better signal penetration for in-building coverage.
"UMTS 900 may help solve the 3G coverage issues in Europe, since providing full coverage at 2100 MHz is very expensive," said Dave Williams, group CTO for O2. "Working with Lucent, we hope to demonstrate how UMTS 900 can complement deployments at 2100 MHz, improve coverage, lower capital expenses and improve the customer's experience."
On Nov. 1, 2005, O2, Manx Telecom and Lucent launched the first commercial HSDPA network service in Europe on the Isle of Man. This commercial network, deployed at 2100 MHz spectrum, will be used during the trial to benchmark against the 900 MHz field trial. The handover quality and experience between these two frequency bands also will be a key focus for the trial.
"We are really excited to partner with O2 and Manx Telecom to demonstrate the benefits that UMTS 900 affords," said Andy Williams, president, Lucent Technologies Europe. "This demonstrates Lucent's flexibility for providing a wide range of frequencies to meet all of our customer requirements."
"QUALCOMM is pleased to demonstrate our technology leadership in the 900 MHz band with our UMTS chipset solutions," said Enrico Salvatori, vice president and general manager for QCT Europe. "The benefits to operators of deploying in this frequency are clear, and we are confident that these trials will help to drive widespread adoption of UMTS."
About O2
O2 comprises mobile network operators in the UK and Ireland, along with integrated fixed/mobile businesses in Germany and the Czech Republic. It also owns 50% of the Tesco Mobile and Tchibo Mobilfunk joint venture businesses in the UK and Germany respectively as well as having full ownership of Be, one of the UK's leading DSL providers. In addition, the group includes O2 Airwave, which supplies secure digital communications to the emergency services and other public safety organisations.
O2, a Telefonica company, is headquartered in Slough, UK, and has more than 35 million customers across Europe.
About Lucent Technologies
Lucent Technologies designs and delivers the systems, services and software that drive next-generation communications networks. Backed by Bell Labs research and development, Lucent uses its strengths in mobility, optical, software, data and voice networking technologies, as well as services, to create new revenue-generating opportunities for its customers, while enabling them to quickly deploy and better manage their networks. Lucent's customer base includes communications service providers, governments and enterprises worldwide. For more information on Lucent Technologies, which has headquarters in Murray Hill, N.J., USA, visit http://www.lucent.com.
About QUALCOMM
QUALCOMM Incorporated (www.qualcomm.com) is a leader in developing and delivering innovative digital wireless communications products and services based on CDMA and other advanced technologies. Headquartered in San Diego, Calif., QUALCOMM is included in the S&P 500 Index and is a 2006 FORTUNE 500(R) company traded on The Nasdaq Stock Market(R) under the ticker symbol QCOM.
Qualcomm: No Negotiations in India
In Asides + Qualcomm
Written By
Katie Fehrenbacher
http://gigaom.com/2006/07/26/qualcomm-india/
Our India correspondent Shai Neelakantan sent over this look at Qualcomm’s moves in India. More about Qualcomm later this afternoon!
Qualcomm has denied reports that it is negotiating with Indian CDMA players, including Reliance Communications, on lowering royalty charges or chipset costs, The Hindu reports quoting the Press Trust of India news agency. “Qualcomm is committed to help the industry drive handset prices down and it involves multiple players and has nothing to do with negotiations on royalties with operators as they do not pay it,” the company is quoted as saying. The company said royalties on devices sold in India as well prices of the devices in the country are the lowest in the world. “Qualcomm is working aggressively to enable even lower-cost devices,” the company said.
Last month Qualcomm Chief Executive Paul Jacobs’s talks with Reliance Communications officials in India broke down on the former’s refusal to negotiate on the royalties issue. After that meeting Reliance Communications said it might migrate to GSM technology.
CDMA subscribers’ share in the Indian market will fall to seven per cent by 2010 while GSM subscribers’ share will grow from the current 75 per cent to 93 per cent, according to consultant Credit Suisse. Nokia, the world’s largest handset maker, has already shelved its CDMA handset manufacturing plants.
GSA: HSDPA Networks Proliferating
By Susan Rush
July 26, 2006
NEWS@2 DIRECT
http://www.wirelessweek.com/article/CA6356469.html
High-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) networks are on pace to reach 80 deployments by year's end, according to a new survey from the Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSM).
To date, 45 commercial HSDPA networks have launched worldwide. This number represents 150-percent growth over the past three months, GSM says. In Europe, 15 EU countries are already delivering HSDPA services and seven more have made formal commitments to launch the technology. HSDPA supporters include Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Hungary, Germany, Greece, Isle of Man, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Madeira, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
In the United States, Cingular is making a big HSDPA push with its Broadband Connect UMTS/HSPDA service. The carrier's 3G coverage currently spans more than 50 U.S. markets, with most recent launches occurring in San Antonio and Atlanta. The goal, according to Cingular, is to expand its 3G reach to most major U.S. markets by the end of 2006.
In addition to efforts in the United States and the EU, several other countries have already embraced the technology, including Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Korea, Bahrain, Israel, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and the UAE.
Earlier this month, Qualcomm said it is on target to release commercial high-speed uplink packet access (HSUPA) technology in early 2007. The CDMA pioneer says it has already completed test calls using its Mobile Station Modem (MSM) 7200 HSUPA chipset, which delivers 2.0 Mbps on the uplink.
GSM Ganging Up On Qualcomm?
In Unwired + India Telecom + Qualcomm + Nokia
Written By Katie Fehrenbacher
http://gigaom.com/2006/07/26/qualcomm/
Qualcomm’s (QCOM) cell phone tax has been clashing with carriers in developing markets recently. The San Diego giant has a patent portfolio that lets it take a percentage of every CDMA handset sold, including patents for 3G.
Over the past few weeks, three carriers with large CDMA networks — China Unicom in China, Reliance in India, and Vivo in Brazil — have been reported to be investing in GSM networks in part to avoid the Qualcomm toll system.
While the carriers and cell phone makers will all upgrade to 3G eventually, delivering Qualcomm their payoffs soon enough, in the short term, possible losses on CDMA in developing markets could be a real concern to the San Diego giant–those carriers are estimated to make up as much as 5% of Qualcomm’s sales for 2006!
Qualcomm’s senior director of corporate communications Jeremy James had a pretty strong statement on the situtation. He said that the companies that are making the most money off of GSM, like Nokia (NOK), and Ericsson (ERICY) are creating “fear, uncertainty, and doubt” over a “false notion” of how Qualcomm’s royalties effect the availability of low-cost handsets.
He also said that GSM network companies like Ericsson are making CDMA carriers in developing markets “very attractive” offers to build and run GSM networks as “a last ditch effort” to try to maintain their traditional GSM shares as long as possible before the 3G future.
There might be some truth to Qualcomm’s complaint, but with a grain of salt. Analysts like Aman Kapoor from Packetology say that Reliance is probably building a GSM network just to better negotiate with Qualcomm over current royalties for CDMA when it expands that network. Since Qualcomm doesn’t disclose its fees beyond a range, it’s hard to tell exactly how much the royalty fee affects the total cost of the handset.
Nokia’s VP of external affairs, Bill Plummer, responded to Qualcomm’s statement by saying “that is certainly one way to look at the evolution of the wireless market. Another way would be to acknowledge that this is a highly competitive market where operators recognize the inherent benefits associated with open, non-proprietary, globally scalable networks like GSM.”
The real truth is that as all the carriers move to 3G, Qualcomm can quadruple its addressable market in the long term. As 3G handsets start to become more popular, Qualcomm is already growing sales and profits — last week the company reported $1.95 billion in revenues, with $643 million in net income for the third quarter, up 44% and 15% respetively.
But when it comes to its relationships with competitors and vendors the company seems to have few friends out there. Jupiter analyst Sharon Armbrust points out some of the data behind the complaints by the Nokia camp. But with complaints in various countries about its aggressive practices, the company can’t afford to alienate the world’s fastest growing markets India, China and Brazil.
Posted on July 26th, 2006
Qualcomm "overweight," target price reduced
Friday, July 21, 2006 1:19:27 AM ET
Prudential Financial
http://www.newratings.com/analyst_news/article_1324210.html
NEW YORK, July 21 (newratings.com) - In a research note published yesterday, analysts at Prudential Financial reiterate their "overweight" rating on Qualcomm (QCOM.NAS). The target price has been reduced from $57 to $50.
Qualcomm "buy," target price reduced
Thursday, July 20, 2006 9:02:22 AM ET
Banc of America
http://www.newratings.com/analyst_news/article_1323759.html
NEW YORK, July 20 (newratings.com) - Analyst Tim Long of Banc of America Securities maintains his "buy" rating on Qualcomm Inc (QCOM.NAS), while revising his estimates for the company. The target price has been reduced from $57 to $47.
Qualcomm "sector outperform," target price reduced
Friday, July 21, 2006 0:46:33 AM ET
CIBC World Markets
http://www.newratings.com/analyst_news/article_1324178.html
NEW YORK, July 21 (newratings.com) - In a research note published yesterday, analysts at CIBC World Markets reiterate their "sector outperform" rating on Qualcomm (QCOM.NAS). The target price has been reduced from $60 to $45.
Low Cost is More Than Just Skin Deep for Motorola's Q
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/18399.php
Available for as little as $200, the Motorola Q has set a new low point for smart-phone pricing. And with a materials and manufacturing cost of only $158, the Q has achieved impressively low production expenses as well, according to research from iSuppli Corp.'s Teardown Analysis Service.
iSuppli's dissection of the Q reveals that the new smart phone's material cost, i.e. the total value of all its components, amounts to $150. When manufacturing expenses are added in, each Q costs $158 for Motorola to make, excluding outlays beyond the production of the Q itself, including shipping, logistics, marketing and other channel expenditures.
The Q's low production cost is reflected in its aggressive pricing. Verizon Wireless, the exclusive seller of the Motorola Q, is offering the product for $199 with a two-year contract. With a one-year contract, the Q's price rises to $349.
The smart phone's combination of low pricing and inexpensive design will be key assets for Motorola as it vies for market share against established rivals, iSuppli believes.
"Given the Q's price point, and Motorola's overall market leverage, this phone likely will succeed in reducing the pricing for smart phones overall?boosting acceptance among users who might flinch at the higher-than-$200 price point established by previous Personal Digital Assistant (PDA)/smart-phone products." said Andrew Rassweiler, teardown services manager and senior analyst for iSuppli.
Great Expectations for the Q
Motorola has major expectations for the Q, the latest in the company's string of stylish phones, including the ultra-thin RAZR and SLVR. These phones, particularly the RAZR, have achieved massive sales volumes and have generated major notoriety for Motorola, helping it to solidify its position as the world's number-two mobile-phone maker.
The Q follows in the footsteps of the previous phones, with Motorola calling it the world's lightest and thinnest phone that has a QWERTY keyboard.
The Motorola Q is dual-band CDMA, 1 x Evolution-Data Optimized (EVDO), Bluetooth-capable smart phone. The phone features dual stereo speakers, a 1.3-Megapixel digital camera with flash, a broad 2.4-inch TFT display and a 35-key QWERTY keyboard in a thin 0.45-inch body. On the software side, the Q comes pre-installed with Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system, Pocket Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player.
Inside the Q
In terms of component selection, the Motorola Q is quite similar to other smart phones that previously were taken apart by iSuppli's Teardown Analysis service. The Q's applications processor is an Intel Corp. XScale, the same as in the Blackberry 8700c iSuppli analyzed recently.
In terms of component selection, the Motorola Q is quite similar to other smart phones that previously were taken apart by iSuppli's Teardown Analysis service. The Q's applications processor is an Intel Corp. XScale, the same as in the Blackberry 8700c iSuppli analyzed recently.
Looking at the voice communications portion of the phone, the design revolves around a Qualcomm Inc. MSM6500 digital baseband chipset and a Texas Instruments Inc. PTWL93017xxxx analog baseband chipset. Qualcomm's MSM6500 is relatively new, but iSuppli has seen the TI chipset before in Motorola's V635 phone.
The Q's memory subsystem consists of two Multichip Modules (MCPs): one from Intel that has a 256Mbit NOR-type flash memory and a 64Mbit Pseudo SRAM (PSRAM), and the other from M Systems Flash Disk Pioneers Ltd. that has a 128Mbyte Flash DiskOnChip, plus a 64Mbit 1.8-Volt Synchronous DRAM (SDRAM).
Summary of Major Components in the Motorola Q
"center>Component
Supplier
Part Number
Microprocessor
Intel
PXA270C5C312
Digital Baseband Processor
Qualcomm
MSM6500
Analog Baseband
Texas Instruments
PTWL93017CZPHR
Power Management
Qualcomm
PM6650
Memory (NOR Flash + PSRAM)
Intel
RD38F4050L0YBQ0
Memory (Flash DiskOnChip + SDRAM)
M-Systems
S15-D10SD9-C1-P
RF Receiver
Qualcomm
RFR6000
RF Transmitter
Qualcomm
RFT6100
Low Noise Amplifier
Qualcomm
RFL6000
Power Amplifier
Skyworks
CX77112
Power Amplifier
Skyworks
CX77140
Bluetooth Baseband
Broadcom
BCM2035KWB
USB Transceiver/Battery Charger
Freescale
MC13883
CMOS Camera Sensor
Micron
MT9M111
Source: iSuppli Corp. July 2006
Cost Drivers
iSuppli's teardown indicates that the display module is the most expensive component in the Q, at $25. The two memory MCPs are the next most expensive portion of the Q, at $22. The Intel XScale microprocessor is priced at $19, while the Qualcomm digital baseband comes in at $14 and the camera module at $7.
This group of components together costs $87, representing 58 percent of the total material cost of the Q.
Main Cost Drivers in the Motorola Q Smart Phone (Cost in U.S. Dollars)
"center>Component/Subsystem
Cost
Display Module (TFT-LCD)
$25
Memory (Intel and M Systems MCPs)
$22
Applications Processor (Intel XScale)
$19
Digital Baseband (Qualcomm MSM6500)
$14
Camera Module
$7
Subtotal of Main Cost Drivers
$87
Total Materials Costs
$150
Total Materials and Manufacturing Costs
$158
Source: iSuppli Corp. July 2006
Motorola's predicts that Q shipments in 2006 alone will amount to more that 5 million units, with 3 million shipped in the fourth quarter. Whether Motorola can meet such an aggressive sales target is uncertain, since it is entering a market of limited size and with established competitors. However, it does indicate that the company has great expectations for its little smart phone.
Unmaking Motorola's Q
JULY 20, 2006
Technology
By Arik Hesseldahl
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jul2006/tc20060720_211102.htm?chan=topStories_ssi_5
What's inside the cell-phone maker's answer to Research In Motion's BlackBerry, and how much does it cost to make it?
The smartphone wars have a new entrant: Motorola (MOT). And as they battle to get consumers pecking away at a handheld with their thumbs, Research In Motion and Palm can't help but take notice.
Released earlier this year to fanfare, Motorola's Q is aimed squarely at helping the cell-phone maker win business from RIM (RIMM) and Palm (PALM) among a highly coveted constituency: hardcore wireless messaging users (see BusinessWeek.com, 7/7/06, "Motorola's Quirky New Smartphone")
If it's anywhere near as successful as the RAZR and SLVR phones that preceded it, the Q will probably help Motorola put price pressure on RIM and Palm and could force RIM to add features it has previously eschewed.
WHAT'S INSIDE. According to market research firm iSuppli, which has done a tear-down analysis of the Q, it costs Motorola about $158 to build the phone. That includes components and assembly but excludes other expenses such as marketing, distribution, and licensing fees to Microsoft (MSFT), which makes the phone's Windows Mobile operating system.
The Q is sold by Verizon Wireless, the joint venture of Verizon (VZ) and Vodafone (VOD), at a heavily subsidized $199 with a two-year service contract, and $349 with a one-year contract. Typically, the mobile-phone service provider absorbs some of the cost of subsidizing a handset or other wireless equipment.
The Q's single most expensive component, says iSuppli analyst Andrew Rassweiler, is the LCD display. He says the cost is $25, although it's unclear what company makes the display. "Whoever made it didn't want to be identified," Rassweiler says.
Sources of other parts of the Q are clear. Intel (INTC) has two parts in the phone, a $19 XScale microprocessor and a flash memory chip. The XScale chip is produced by the unit of Intel that is being acquired by Marvell Technology (MRVL).
Qualcomm (QCOM) supplied a chip called a digital baseband processor (about $14) that helps the device connect to digital wireless networks. Rassweiler says the Q phone marks the first time he's seen that particular Qualcomm chip. Qualcomm supplied four other parts, including a power management chip. Other suppliers included Texas Instruments (TXN); Broadcom (BRCM), which supplied a Bluetooth chip; Freescale Semiconductor (FSL), which supplied a USB chip; and M-Systems (FLSH), which supplied flash memory chips. Micron Technology (MU) supplied the CMOS imaging chip, and Skyworks (SWKS) contributed two power chips.
HOW THEY STACK UP. The materials and manufacturing cost of the Q is higher than that of RIM's current flagship handheld device, the Blackberry 8700. The 8700 cost about $123 to make, and it sells for $299 from Cingular Wireless, owned by AT&T (T) and BellSouth (BLS), and from Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile (DK).
But the 8700 differs from the Motorola device in several ways. For one, it doesn't play video or music, and unlike the Q, it doesn't have a camera. Palm's Treo 700p has both a camera and plays music and video. The difference between them is starting to show. RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie has recently hinted Blackberry devices with cameras and music and video capability might start showing up soon. ISuppli hasn't yet torn down the Treo and so couldn't speculate on what it costs Palm to build. But Sprint Nextel (S) and Verizon Wireless sell the Treo 700p for $399.
Motorola has said that it expects to sell some five million Q phones, which would make it a formidable competitor to the BlackBerry. That device, dubbed the CrackBerry because fans are addicted to it, is used by some 5.5 million people, RIM said when it reported the results for its most recent quarter.