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Gartner: Intel reigns, Qualcomm gains
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-10216184-64.html
by Brooke Crothers
Qualcomm is gaining in global chip rankings by revenue, while Intel still sits comfortably at the top, according to market researcher Gartner.
Worldwide semiconductor revenue totaled $255 billion in 2008, down 5.4 percent, or a decrease of $14.5 billion from 2007 revenue, according to the final market share analysis released by Gartner on Wednesday.
"While sales held up fairly well in the first half of 2008, in the third quarter the industry started to soften as the economy slowed, and by the fourth quarter sales were deteriorating quickly, causing revenue growth to go into negative territory," said Peter Middleton, principal research analyst at Gartner, in a statement.
Intel held the No. 1 position for the 17th consecutive year, increasing its market share to 13.3 percent in 2008, although revenue declined by 0.5 percent, a result of spinning off its NOR flash memory business, Gartner said. "The company outperformed the industry average due to the strong performance of its notebook business in which the company gained share throughout the year," according to Gartner.
(Credit: Gartner)
Reports on Thursday say Intel, whose shares have been gaining over the last month, may fare better than expected when it reports earnings on April 14. "We think the first-quarter results will beat Intel's internal forecast and consensus estimates and expect second-quarter guidance to reflect modest growth," The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, quoting Wedbush Morgan analyst Patrick Wang.
The Santa Clara, Calif.-based chipmaker, however, should probably keep an eye on its flourishing California rival, San Diego-based Qualcomm--the "best performer" among the 2008 top 10 in Gartner's market share analysis. The world's largest supplier of cell phone silicon saw growth of 15.3 percent, driven by a strong first three quarters of the year. It jumped in ranking from No. 11 in 2007 to No. 8 in 2008.
Samsung, the No. 2 chip vendor, was among the hardest hit because its main products lines are memory, a chip category that saw steep declines in 2008. The company's revenue fell 15 percent in 2008 as a result of oversupply and consequent price drops in DRAM (used as the main memory in PCs) and NAND flash (used as storage in cameras, digital music players, and solid-state drives).
No.3 Toshiba saw revenue fall 10.3 percent in its lines of chips for consumer, wireless, and automotive electronics due to a market free-fall in the second half of 2008, Gartner said.
Broadcom led the rankings in 2008 for "Relative Industry Performance"--which measures the difference between industry-specific growth for a company and actual growth, indicating which companies are outperforming (or underperforming) their business segments. Broadcom benefited from solid performance in the set-top box business, helped by Blu-ray and digital TV products and the sale of digital converter boxes for the DTV conversion in the United States, Gartner said. Broadcom also fared well in Ethernet switches, broadband modem chips, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and GPS.
-------
Table in graphic format at the link. QCOM $6.5B versus Intel's $34B, so a long ways to go (and largely different markets).
Hmm, a reason to ban Punk? I'd say he isn't worth Rich's time. He gets his vicarious thrills off bashing QCOM. Me, I ignore his comments.
YEP - still here. I sold my Nov puts 3 weeks ago, guess I was early.
The conference call has been rescheduled to 5AM PDT (8AM EDT). Verified at Qualcomm IR section. Sounds like an all nighter for QCOM's executive staff. Not sure if I'll get up that early for it.
<Lurk-mode OFF>
Yes, I'm still around and still holding most of my 1995 holdings. What a wild ride it has been. I'm still watching at least once a week, usually every other day. Some general non-disclosures have kept me from commenting much lately (nothing related to Q, just too much paperwork if I comment).
stricklybiz/Dick, hope you all the best. You know you are welcome, and this is one of your "expert stocks," so if you see a buying opportunity, you will know it, and hopefully will also know when not to invest. You had your warning a couple of years ago, so I agree you should enjoy life now. I've enjoyed your discussions.
Back to lurking. And getting headaches trying to understand the lawsuits.
Major error in the Forbes piece on Paul Jacobs.
"Paul E Jacobs has been CEO of Qualcomm (QCOM) for one year. Dr. Jacobs has been with the company for 16 years .The 64 year old executive ranks 3 within Technology Hardware & Equipment"
I hope I look that good when I'm 64!
I know that Alltel had a Flarion OFMD test going in the Triangle region of NC (Raleigh, etc.), so that is my guess on the inheirited license. I don't play takeover targets, but Alltel is obvious.
That reminds me, since we are bringing up old memories, whatever happened to QCOM's R&D site in the Research Triangle? Speculation then was that it was for better coordination with Intel, and to take advantage of the top-notch engineers being layed off by Lucent, etc.
MSM7200 looks real interesting. I followed the link in the article from Biz.
http://www.cdmatech.com/products/msm7200_chipset_solution.jsp
Overview
The Convergence Platform fundamentally redefines wireless mobility with consumer electronic features, superior processing power and advanced applications that take mobile communications to a new level.
Ultra-sleek handsets powered by the MSM7200™ chipset for WCDMA (UMTS)/HSUPA and GSM/GPRS/EDGE (EGPRS) networks will become all-in-one devices, utilizing next-generation wireless technology to offer consumers the in-demand features that can change the shape of their day-to-day lives.
Benefits
* Establish long-term customer loyalty with high-end devices that have the processing speeds to power the data-intensive applications consumers use every day
* Deliver easy-to-access premium content over high bandwidth WCDMA/HSUPA and EGPRS networks with integrated Launchpad™ solutions
* Reduce BOM and development costs with an integrated chipset that supports more features for stylishly chic handsets
* Cash in on the demand for multi-tasking devices that combine in-demand consumer electronic features and high-speed wireless
Technical Features
* Supports WCDMA/HSUPA and EGPRS networks
* Integrated ARM11™ applications processor and ARM9™ modem
* QDSP4000™ and QDSP5000™ high-performance digital signal processors (DSP)
* 400 MHz ARM11 Jazelle™ Java® hardware acceleration
* Support for BREW® and Java applications
* Qcamera™: Up to 6.0 megapixel digital images
* Qtv™: Playback at 30 fps VGA
* Qcamcorder™: Record at 30 fps VGA
* Q3Dimension™: Up to 4 million triangles per second, and 133 million depth-tested, textured 3D pixels per second fill rate
* gpsOne® position-location assisted-GPS (A-GPS) solution
* Support for Linux® and other third-party operating systems
* Digital audio support for MP3, aacPlus™ and Enhanced aacPlus
* Integrated Mobile Digital Display Interface (MDDI), Bluetooth® 1.2 baseband processor and WiFi support
Vietnam network provider, Qualcomm to make CDMA phones
http://www.thanhniennews.com/business/?catid=2&newsid=14117
EVN Telecom, a subsidiary of dominant utility Electricity of Vietnam, has partnered with Qualcomm to produce mobile and fixed phones, local VnExpress newswire reported Monday.
With this project, EVN Telecom became the first Vietnamese maker of telephones for the CDMA [Code Division Multiple Access] standard – which allows for faster data services.
Once operational, EVN Telecom’s factory could produce some 500,000 fixed and mobile CDMA phones every year, and over one million sets three years later, VnExpress said.
They would be used by clients of EVN Telecom services, including wireless fixed phone (E-Com), intra-provincial mobile phone (E-Phone), and nationwide mobile phone (E-Mobile), said Dinh Quang Tri, vice CEO of Electricity of Vietnam.
EVN Telecom said it would launch the mobile phone network E-mobile utilizing CDMA technology in mid-April, and promised “the cheapest rate available.”
FLASH - DRUDGE - Cancer - Cell Phones
http://www.drudgereport.com/flash7.htm
Mobile phones not linked to brain cancer: new study
Thu Jan 19 2006 08:47:41 ET
British researchers say they have found no evidence to support fears that mobile phones cause brain cancer.
The new study, published online on Friday by the British Medical Journal (BMJ), covers mobile phone use by 966 Britons aged 18-69 who were diagnosed between 2000 and 2004 with glioma, a rare but highly malignant brain tumour.
The researchers compared these results with similar interviews conducted among 1,700 healthy people, AFP reports.
The probe found that there was no additional risk from mobile phones, as determined by the number of years the phone had been in use; the age at which it was first used; the number of calls made; and the number of hours a person spent talking on it.
The team did note that there was a significant tendency for a brain tumour to occur on the same side of the head where the user said he had usually placed the phone.
But, they suggest, this figure could be "recall bias" -- cancer patients, aware of the scare about mobile phones, may have been prompted to attribute their tumour to the gadget.
The study only covers use of mobile phones for up to 10 years. It does not apply to longer-term use.
However, some individual studies have suggested there could be a cancer risk from using mobile phones in rural areas, where electromagnetic signals are stronger in order to compensate for the greater distance between relay stations, and from using older-generation analogue phones.
New networks for mobile TV
By Marguerite Reardon
http://news.com.com/New+networks+for+mobile+TV/2100-1039_3-6022654.html
Story last modified Mon Jan 09 04:00:00 PST 2006
Two tech industry stalwarts are building ambitious "supercharged" networks that could help make mobile television commonplace in the United States.
Cell phone technology company Qualcomm, through its MediaFlo subsidiary, and wireless operator Crown Castle International, through its Modeo subsidiary, are both investing millions of dollars in new mobile networks that will broadcast live TV programming to cell phones across the country.
They both hope to become the big players in a market some analysts believe will see explosive growth in the coming years. ABI Research estimates the market for mobile TV equipment and services could jump from $200 million this year to $27 billion by the end of the decade.
What's new:
Qualcomm's MediaFlo subsidiary and Crown Castle International's Modeo subsidiary are investing millions of dollars in mobile networks that will broadcast live TV shows to cell phones nationwide.
Bottom line:
With a "multicasting" ability that mimics conventional TV broadcasting, the networks promise to be more viable than the "unicasting" 3G wireless networks built by Sprint and others--at least when it comes to high volumes of live TV. It's still too early to say whether MediaFlo or Modeo will prevail, but it's clear they won't be the only two players for long.
"We know there's strong interest from consumers for prerecorded mobile TV," said Michael Gartenberg, a research director at Jupiter Research. "New networks could help drive this demand, but the challenge is getting carriers to adopt the technology and encouraging people to subscribe."
Though mobile operators such as Sprint Nextel, Verizon Wireless and Cingular Wireless have spent billions of dollars over the last few years building new 3G wireless networks in order to deliver new services such as video, their networks could be woefully inadequate for delivering high volumes of live TV programming.
3G wireless networks are designed to be "unicast," which means signals are transmitted between a single sender and a single receiver. If 500,000 people in a city decide to watch the Super Bowl on their cell phones, the network has to transmit a copy of the video to each user.
That's where MediaFlo and Modeo come in: They're attempting to build the heavy-duty network that can make mobile TV work. They're working on networks designed for "multicast" transmission, which means they transmit signals once to many devices. This is exactly how traditional broadcast television works.
The companies last week were showing off their technology with handset partners at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Samsung Electronics and LG demonstrated handsets that used the MediaFlo technology, while Motorola and Nokia showed off handsets using Modeo's technology.
"The economics of beaming the same signal to millions of people at the same time just doesn't work," said Rob Chandhok, vice president of engineering and market development for Qualcomm's MediaFlo. "You really need a broadcast network."
The business models and technology of the two companies are fundamentally similar. And both expect to have service rolled out to some parts of the country by the end of this year. They don't expect to provide service directly to consumers, but hope to partner with existing carriers.
Chandhok believes cellular operators can build a business model that incorporates both on-demand content from the 3G network and live programming over the MediaFlo network. In the end, he argues, carriers benefit because they can charge different prices for different kinds of content. In December, MediaFlo announced that Verizon Wireless signed up to be the company's first official customer when the service goes live.
Even though Modeo hasn't yet announced any carrier customers, Michael Ramke, vice president of marketing and business development for the company, agreed that working with cellular operators is critical to Modeo's success.
"There are 180 million cellular subscribers in the U.S. today," Ramke said. "And they all subscribe to some sort of cellular service. So, yes, it makes sense for us to pursue a wholesale model in order to reach those customers."
Modeo is using an open standards technology called DVB-H (digital video broadcast--handheld), while MediaFlo is using technology Qualcomm has developed called FLO. Though there are some technical differences between the two technologies, there are also many similarities. Both technologies use OFDM, or Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing, a modulation technology that sends multiple signals at different frequencies to get the maximum use out of spectrum bandwidth. Both technologies also use a kind of time division multiplexing to transmit specific content at specific time intervals.
But MediaFlo claims that its FLO technology has been designed to provide more-efficient use of spectrum, which would lead to higher-quality video and audio, faster channel-switching time, superior mobile reception, optimized power consumption and greater capacity.
"Some of the basics of the technology may be similar, but the way it's been implemented is different," said Albert Lin, an analyst at American Technology Research. "And these differences impact the actual user experience. FLO was designed especially to deliver mobile TV, while DVB-H is a standard based on older broadcast TV technology."
Another big difference between the MediaFlo and Modeo networks is the radio frequency spectrum each has chosen to use in building its network. MediaFlo uses the 700MHz spectrum, while Modeo uses spectrum between 1,670MHz and 1,675MHZ. Cellular operators use spectrum between 800MHz and 1,900MHz.
The 700MHz spectrum is key to MediaFlo's claim that it can build a cost-effective network, because this spectrum allows signals to be transmitted over long distances with fewer radios. The lower the frequency of operation, the farther signals propagate and the better able they are to penetrate obstacles like trees and buildings. MediaFlo can cover the entire city of San Diego, for example, with only five FLO transmitters, compared with hundreds of bay stations that must be deployed by cellular operators in order to cover an entire city with cell phone access.
MediaFlo plans to spend $800 million over the next four to five years to build its network nationwide. By contrast, Modeo estimates it will cost about $500 million over the next two years to provide service in 30 of the top markets in the U.S. It plans to offer service in a handful of cities this year, including New York. Still, Modeo's Ramke argued that his competitor's claims of cost-effectiveness are overblown.
MediaFlo's approach does have one big shortcoming. The 700MHz spectrum it taps is currently being used to transmit analog TV signals. Though in many areas of the country, MediaFlo's designated channel, Channel 55, is not being used, but there are areas where broadcasters are still using it. In those places, MediaFlo must negotiate with individual broadcasters to gain access to the channel.
This won't be an issue after the U.S. moves from analog TV to digital. A deadline of Feb. 18, 2009, was set as part of legislation that passed the U.S. Senate last year.
Though it's still too early to say which of these two companies will trump the other when it comes to providing mobile TV infrastructure, it's clear they won't be the only two players for long. As the U.S. government auctions more channels in the 700MHz band, more players are expected to emerge.
"We see this as a really huge potential market," Ramke said. "And it's still in the early stages. There's still a lot of spectrum yet to be auctioned off, so I'm sure we'll see more competition."
Amp'd: Cells for the Maxim Set
http://www.wirelessnewsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=02200000J7RE
Targeted squarely at 18- to 25-year-old men, Amp'd is offering sleek, inexpensive handsets ready to receive streaming video, music downloads, and pictures of pin-up girls, over rented spectrum on Verizon Wireless' high-speed EV-DO network.
Henry Ford said you could have a Model T "in any color, so long as it's black," and the same is true of mobile phones today: You can have any phone you want, so long as it's a silver flip.
O.K. -- the pickings aren't that slim, but the mobile-phone market remains astonishingly unsegmented. Motorola's Razr was the big success story of 2005, but already you're as likely to find it in the hands of a middle-schooler as a middle manager.
Carriers have begun pushing handsets for kids -- like the Firefly, operating on Cingular's network -- and, a few years back, Nokia livened up the market by offering detachable faceplates. But for all the competition among the major cell-phone carriers, their brand identities are as bland as baby food.
Enter Amp'd Mobile, the service that launched at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. With $300 million in capital and an edgy marketing campaign, Amp'd aims to sell phones like they're energy drinks.
Total Rethink
Targeted squarely at 18- to 25-year-old men, Amp'd is offering sleek, inexpensive handsets ready to receive streaming video, music downloads, and pictures of pin-up girls, over rented spectrum on Verizon Wireless' high-speed EV-DO network. As a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) -- the industry term for a branded service piggybacking on a major carrier's network -- Amp'd isn't saddled with the cost of building and operating its own network.
But it isn't just "slapping a sticker on and getting a hip-hop artist to promote it," says Amp'd Chief Executive Peter Adderton, who previously headed Boost Mobile, an MVNO running on Nextel's network. Instead, taking a page from Apple Computer's playbook, it has attempted to rethink every aspect of the brand experience -- from the phone's proprietary user interface, to the high-attitude Web site, to the original media content produced for its phones' 2-inch-by-1-inch screens.
"Verizon needs to serve everybody from ages 7 to 70, so they have to be pretty vanilla," explains Marina Amoroso, wireless analyst at Yankee Group. "But [a company] like Amp'd is only trying to get 2 million or 3 million customers, instead of 50 million, which enables [it] to focus on just those people. To capture any market share, [Amp'd needs] to make it a more personalized lifestyle service and offer more than just voice." And the field is growing crowded, with ESPN and Disney both launching MVNOs in 2006.
How To Make It Easy?
Billing itself as "the first fully integrated mobile-entertainment company," Amp'd has also partnered with independent production companies, such as Bunim/Murray Productions (originators of MTV's The Real World) and LivePlanet (co-founded by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck), to produce original content -- rounding out more familiar offerings, like clips from the Late Show With David Letterman and highlights from America's Next Top Model.
From the beginning, Amp'd focused on its target demographic. Inherently comfortable with new technology and primed by the Web to be ready for the small bits of video suited for phone viewing, 18- to 25-year-old men are the low-hanging fruit of the cellular world. The Amp'd design team knew the possibilities the 3G network offered: music downloads, video streaming, video blogging, online gaming, instant messaging, and Internet searching. "Everyone knows about the pipe," Adderton says. "The carriers were really good about going out there and getting the spectrum. But nobody really said, 'How do we make that easy for the consumer to use?'"
For help, Amp'd went to Ninja Mobile, a Japanese software-development company that specializes in BREW, a cell-phone operating system created by Qualcomm. Ninja's biggest success had been Surfline, an application that brought surfing conditions, including live video, to users' mobile phones. The Amp'd interface is broader-based, combining music downloads, video clips, ringtones, games, and wallpaper into a single application, called Amp'd Live.
Handset Makeover
Instead of organizing the content the way it's stored on the cell-phone carrier's network, with music, videos, and games as separate categories, Amp'd Live organizes its content into four main channels: music, sports, entertainment, and live events. The ESPN section of Amp'd Live, for example, offers scores and videos, while the music section offers more videos, ring tones, and full music downloads -- all accessed through a series of scrolling menus. The result of Ninja's work is a more Web-like experience that encourages browsing based on subject, rather than medium.
Recognizing the importance of the handset itself, Amp'd spent two years with Kyocera and Motorola developing new models, tweaking the insides of an existing form factor to Amp'd's specifications. Video -- even at 2 in. by 1 in. -- required a high-resolution screen, while music and video downloads demanded expandable memory.
But, crucially, Amp'd's young demographic meant no handset could succeed priced at $400, leading some features to be scaled back from the cutting edge of the available technology -- such as deploying a lower-resolution VGA camera, rather than a 2.4-megapixel device.
In the end, Amp'd is able to offer the Kyocera Jet with 128 megabytes of memory for $129. Pride of place at the center of the phone's keypad is occupied by Amp'd's stylized zigzag logo -- an "evil eye" that eagerly implies that the content to come might be more naughty than nice.
All in Bad Taste
Just as Amp'd pushed the envelope of technology, it has tested the line of good taste in its advertising and content. Developed with red-hot New York ad agency TAXI, one commercial in Amp'd's teaser campaign features a prostitute in a compromising position in a hotel room with a senator, who is having a heart attack.
She bangs on his chest, desperately listing Amp'd's features, followed by the tag line, "Try not to die. Amp'd Mobile is coming." As Paul Lavoie, president and creative director of TAXI, put it, "If the content is going to be crazy, so should the advertising."
Indeed, during beta testing, Amp'd's most popular content proved to be some of its raunchiest -- like videos of college students snorting vodka. Adderton makes no apologies for the demographic's tastes. "We're putting content on that's a little more edgy than other big networks that are trying to protect the family brand. And I don't know any 35-year-old who doesn't want to be 21 again."
Palm, Verizon, & Microsoft announcement 9AM PDT Monday - at CTIA
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/242090_msftpalm24.html
OT: Raging Bull and QChart Offer
I figure most here are refugees from RB. Anyway, was over at RB today and saw on the RB front page an offer for a 1-month free trial of QCharts, a $95 value (I don't think it includes the real-time exchanges, basic Qcharts is $95 - I guarantee this won't include CBOE data(options) at $43/mo). If you are into technical analysis, you should look at this. If not, you can play with it as it includes many default workspaces.
Raging Bull, QCharts, and LiveCharts are all Lycos companies (wasn't that way in the old days, I'll admit). I've been a QCharts customer for 3 years and haven't found anything else as adjustable (before folks send recommendations, I change the default time periods to something other than daily and hourly, most other software don't have this capability).
Sun's String of Fury Continues as 7th Major Flare Erupts
<Does anyone know how CDMA phones fare compared to other standards from the disruption mentioned - the referenced study article doesn't give details?> So this isn't OT.
http://space.com/scienceastronomy/050909_solar_flares.html
By Robert Roy Britt
Senior Science Writer
posted: 09 September 2005
10:33 pm ET
Updated 12:36 p.m. ET Sept. 11
An ongoing series of seven major solar flares, including two on Saturday, could disrupt communications on Earth and generate colorful sky shows for people at high northern latitudes for the next several days.
Already satellites have been affected. Even more serious effects are possible this week.
The spate of activity from the Sun is being generated by a large sunspot named 798. Sunspots are cooler and darker regions of pent-up magnetic activity. When they unleash their energy, it's a bit like the top coming off a shaken champagne bottle.
The sunspot is just rotating into view, so its energy has been directed sideways and not directly at Earth. In coming days, if more major flares erupt as forecasters expect, they'll head right at us and radio blackouts, cell phone dropouts and other communications disruptions are more likely http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/cell_phone_020306.html, scientists said.
Solar flares send radiation to Earth in about 8 minutes. Hours later, clouds of charged particles can engulf the planet. If the magnetic field of a storm is oriented opposite to our planet's protective magnetic field, gaps are created and radiation leaks to the planet's surface, potentially threatening astronauts aboard the International Space Station, sometimes shorting out satellites, and even causing terrestrial power grids to trip.
Solar activity is at "very high levels," according to NOAA's Space Environment Center (SEC).
The SEC has reported that agencies have experienced problems with fluctuations in their
electric power systems due to the severe levels of geomagnetic activity. Spacecraft operations, high-frequency communications, and navigation systems such as the Global Positioning System (GPS) constellation of satellites "are also experiencing impacts due to the strong to severe solar activity."
A severe geomagnetic storm produced aurora sightings along the northern tier of the United States, and even as far south as Arizona. Aurora are colorful sky lights triggered when charged particles excite molecules in the atmosphere.
According to one eyewitness from British Columbia, Canada, the solar storm is lighting up the sky. "It is 10 p.m. and the northern sky here is aglow, as if there were a major league night game at the nearby school," local resident of Cortes Island, John Sprungman, told SPACE.com. He reported no special effects at this moment other than the bright night sky.
There have been seven major flares in recent days, including a tremendous X-17 eruption Wednesday. An event Friday evening was an X-6. On Saturday, an X-1 and an X-2 erupted. Even an X-1 can cause severe disruptions.
The largest flare in modern times was recorded in November 2003 and was estimated to be an X-40. It, too, was on the limb of the Sun and so its full impact was not felt on Earth. That flare was part of an unprecedented series of 10 major flares within two weeks; at least one Earth-orbiting satellite was disabled and one instrument aboard a Mars-orbiting craft was knocked offline.
This week's series is the most impressive since then.
Each storm is different, and often solar activity goes unnoticed on Earth, depending on whether a storm hits us square or makes a glancing blow and what the magnetic orientation is.
If enough storms erupt, the odds go up that there will be effects here. And the likelihood of Earth taking one directly on the chin goes up with each passing day as the sunspot takes aim.
There is a 75 percent chance of more X-class flares each day through Tuesday, the SEC says.
On Friday, a space radiation storm was captured in an image from the SOHO spacecraft, which monitors the Sun. The spacecraft has since experienced a radiation bakeout and has been unable to return its full suite of imagery.
The Sun is currently at a low point in its 11-year cycle of activity. While sunspots and flares are less common now, astronomers say they can pack plenty of punch when they do occur.
A movie revealing some of the flare activity through Friday is available here.
Cramer is allowed to hold positions, because he only trades stocks that are in his charitable trust - part of his agreement with CNBC. He has stated that his 2005 profits will go to the Katrina Disaster Relief efforts.
WiMax Trials by Verizon
Jim Mullens posted a list of WiMax trials, which included,
Verizon Avenue, a subsidiary of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ - message board), last year launched a trial broadband wireless network in Grundy, Va., using Alvarion's BreezeAccess gear (see Verizon Trials BWA). Although Verizon owns WCS spectrum, it chose to use unlicensed frequencies for the trial.
This location has me puzzled. Grundy, VA is in the heart of Appalacia where Virginia, West Virginia, and Kentucky meet. (AKA, the middle of nowhere, with horrible geography for radio/wireless - nothing but ridges and valleys). You are lucky to get an FM station, much less a high speed wireless signal.
Also, Qualcomm has not been absent from 802.11n, and has been very active in the standards forums. I and Rich B posted on it over a year ago.
Why cell phone service here sucks
Europeans pay about the same, but that's where the similarities end
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8753895/
[Someone has bought the PR of the GSM Assoc in this article - this reads like something from 1998]
Why cell phone service here sucks
Europeans pay about the same, but that's where the similarities end
By Gary Krakow
Columnist
MSNBC
Updated: 8:23 a.m. ET Aug. 2, 2005
A recent trip to Europe startled me in a number of ways. First, discounting the fact that the dollar isn’t worth all that much these days, there are a number of factors I encountered which prove that Americans should count their blessings -– and one glaring example where we are really far behind.
For instance, I rented a car while traveling. It would be considered a small car by Americans but a good-sized car for Europeans. It was very roomy inside and it had a 4-cylinder diesel engine which averaged more than 30 miles per gallon at legal highway speeds up to 81 miles (130 km) per hour. That’s a good thing because diesel fuel averaged a little more than $5 per gallon. I noticed that gasoline prices are 20 per cent higher than diesel. Coming home to skyrocketing U.S. gas prices are a little more tolerable after paying $60-$90 each time I filled up my compact rental car.
Plus, there were the highway tolls to factor in. I traveled one stretch of super-highway for less than two hours. The toll was just over $30. We’re lucky. Driving a car over there is a very, very expensive proposition.
On the other hand, Europeans have it all over us when it comes to cell phones. They pay about the same price each month for their wireless services, but that’s where the similarities end. Their phones do more and Europeans do more with them -– more messaging, more use of online services and, of course, making and receiving more phone calls.
There’s a good reason for the difference -- their service is way better than ours. Through all my travels -- in major cities, on highways, on country roads and even “the middle of nowhere” -- my cell phones (I brought a few to test) always worked. They constantly received near perfect signals. My boss had a similar experience recently. Traveling through Wales -- in cities, towns and even on rural, one-lane roads -– he and his wife were able to make phone calls without dropouts, static or any problems at all.
The phones seemed to work everywhere. I was able to hold conversations inside buildings -– in basements of department stores, in the back of restaurants, in the subways. I was even able to browse the Web and tend to my email while traveling on subway trains. This was not a hit-or-miss proposition. I was able to do this every time I tried. No way that’s going to happen here in the United States.
There are many reasons for this disparity. Some argue that Europe is much smaller than the U.S. so it’s easier to wire the place for cellular service. But the real reason is that there is one cell phone standard in Europe and most of the world. GSM phones rule. Some Far Eastern countries use other standards, but within each of those countries there is one preferred system.
In the United States, there are many cellular standards. T-Mobile and Cingular are our GSM providers. North American GSM phones operate on different frequencies than overseas GSM phones. That’s why you’ll see the designation “quad band” or “world phone” on some handsets. They have both U.S. and European circuit boards inside and work everywhere GSM works.
Verizon, Sprint, Nextel and others use different cell phone standards (CDMA, TDMA, etc.) Their phones don’t work overseas, although Nextel’s SIM cards work in GSM “world” phones allowing you to keep using your phone number overseas.
I believe that our system of allowing each cellular company to do what they please is holding us back when it comes to blanketing our country with usable signals, despite what the ads claim. In other ways we have an edge. Verizon and Sprint provide very fast data networks here in the U.S., much faster than their GSM data network counterparts.
But, here in the U.S. we’re far behind in total cell phone data use. Catching up will take awhile. Most users here stay with their provider for years and years, accepting what they’re offered without taking the time to shop around for improved services -– not just price. And consumers are not going to purchase voice services from one place, data services and overseas roaming from others.
There needs to be one standard here too. If all cellular companies, worldwide, worked on improving one set of standards we’d see a lot better service -– with more features -– at better prices. This is one area where narrowing the competition would be a good thing for the consumer.
But, I’m pretty sure that’s not going to happen anytime soon. I don’t expect our government to step in to help. On the other hand, the FCC did choose a broadcast standard for digital radio in the United States. Though as you might expect, it’s not the same standard that the rest of the world is happy using.
© 2005 MSNBC Interactive
© 2005 MSNBC.com
URL: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8753895/
Rogers launches cellphone for kids (Canadian CDMA Carrier)
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&a...
Firefly design includes parental control
U.S. consumer group raises concerns
TYLER HAMILTON AND ROBERT CRIBB
STAFF REPORTERS
Rogers Wireless Inc. has become the first Canadian mobile phone provider to introduce a cellphone designed specifically for children as young as eight.
The Canadian launch of the brightly coloured Firefly phone, which costs as much as $149.99 and is being touted as a way for parents to keep in touch with "the people who matter most," comes after a consumer advocacy group co-founded by Ralph Nader petitioned U.S. Congress to investigate the marketing and sale of cellphones to children.
The group, citing unanswered questions related to health, social and privacy impacts on children, said putting cellphones into the hands of such a young population could open up a "plethora of problems" with unknown long-term consequences — everything ranging from interruptions in learning environments to possible health problems affecting the ear and brain.
"Once the phones are in the classrooms, playrooms, and in the children's bedrooms, it will be too late," states a letter from Commercial Alert, whose board includes Nader, popular children's singer Raffi, and Brita Butler-Wall, president of the Seattle School Board.
Suzanne McMeans, a spokeswoman for Rogers Wireless, said the company has done independent focus groups and found that both parents and their children demand a service such as Firefly, which only has five dial keys and can be programmed by parents to limit use and abuse.
She said the company's marketing, while it will mostly target parents, will also speak directly to children through a promotional campaign with children's television channel YTV.
"We do feel it's important to speak to (children) directly and treat them with respect," said McMeans, adding that the company would not comment on events south of the border. "We don't think it would be appropriate to comment on congressional discussions taking place in the U.S."
An investigative series last month by the Toronto Star found that the wireless industry is increasingly marketing to children despite uncertainties about the long-term health impact of wireless signals.
Some scientists, citing the thinner skulls and still-developing nervous systems of children, say it could take decades to prove or disprove whether radiation exposure from cellphones can lead to health consequences such as brain tumours, eye cancers and Alzheimer's later in life.
"Can (the industry) guarantee that children will suffer no adverse health effects from the use of mobile phones? If not, then why is it offering mobile phones to children?" states the Commercial Alert letter, which was sent to commerce committee members at both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.
The wireless industry, while recognizing the need for more research, says the phones are safe and meet all emission standards set by government.
Cellphone use by children has grown 140 per cent since 2001, according to Milwaukee-based research firm SpectraCom, which found in a recent North American and European survey that the average young user spends two hours a day talking on the devices.
Top Canadian health officials, including Dr. Sheela Basrur, Ontario's chief public health officer, and Dr. David Butler-Jones, head of the Public Health Agency of Canada, have urged caution around the non-essential use of cellphones by children.
Last year, Britain's health agency urged similar precautionary limits and asked cellphone providers to avoid marketing to children. Health Canada has issued no such message.
Rogers, while the first to offer a cellphone in Canada designed for kids, joins a growing list of U.S. wireless carriers, entertainment companies and toy makers eager to tap the potentially lucrative pre-teen market.
This summer, Walt Disney Co. and Mattel Inc. announced plans to come out with "kiddie" phones, the former branded with popular Disney characters and content and the latter modelled on the Barbie "My Scene" toy line.
Canada's mobile phone providers, including Bell Mobility and Telus Mobility, all offer access to mobile content that would appeal to young children, and earlier this year one U.S. wireless carrier began offering video clips of Sesame Street characters on mobile phones.
Officials behind the Firefly phone say parents control how much time a child can spend on the phone as well as whom the child can call and receive calls from.
But Commercial Alert, citing a number of other different child-focused cellphones entering the market, says the coming mobile onslaught is a bad idea.
"If the Disney Corporation and others just wanted to give children a way to contact parents in emergencies, that would be one thing," the group states.
"But despite the industry's rhetoric, Disney and the telecommunications companies really want to use children as conduits to their parents' wallets."
<Note: I hope that isn't the American cycling star Tyler Hamilton writing this article>
Qualcomm Shares Seen With 20%-30% Upside To Market - SG Cowen
http://www.forbes.com/markets/2005/07/21/qualcomm-earnings-wireless-0721markets15.html?partner=yahoo...
Qualcomm Shares Seen With 20%-30% Upside To Market
07.21.05, 3:26 PM ET
SG Cowen continues to view Qualcomm (nasdaq: QCOM - news - people ) as a "core holding" and suggested that investors should add to positions at current price levels.
SG Cowen said, "We continue to believe that the fundamentals are in place for a strong 2006, driving upside to estimates. While we have conservatively trimmed slightly our 2006 forecasts (based on the current trajectory) we remain above consensus."
Qualcomm reduced calendar 2005 handset unit sales to 203 million from 213 million, including reducing WCDMA units to 45 million from 50 million. "Based on our calculations, we believe that 2H:05 handset growth will be such that December and March quarter consensus estimates remain achievable, if not low," SG Cowen said.
The research firm said, "We still expect Nokia (nyse: NOK - news - people ) to have a Qualcomm-based EV-DO phone before year's end and possibly a sub-$50 CDMA handset; three phones into DoCoMo by the second quarter of 2006; and China to award 3G licenses sometime in early 2006."
SG Cowen said, "With growth and returns accelerating into 2006 and an enterprise value/free cash flow of 19 times, towards the lower end of its historical range, we view the shares as attractive and see 20% to 30% upside relative to the market over the next 12 months.
QUALCOMM Reaffirms Financial Guidance for Fiscal Third Quarter 2005
Date(s): 5/4/2005 4:02:00 PM
For a complete listing of our News Releases, please click here.
SAN DIEGO, May 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- QUALCOMM Incorporated (Nasdaq: QCOM) today reaffirmed its financial guidance previously provided on April 20, 2005, for the third fiscal quarter ending June 26, 2005, to facilitate discussion at its analyst meeting. The previously provided financial guidance is detailed in QUALCOMM's second quarter fiscal 2005 earnings press release and can be found at the following Website http://www.qualcomm.com/ir/earnings.html.
QUALCOMM is hosting its analyst meeting for institutional investors and equity analysts on May 5, 2005. The meeting will be held at the Essex House Hotel in New York, NY, and will be simulcast on the Company's Website at www.qualcomm.com. Executive presentations will begin at 8:00am EDT and will conclude at 1:00pm EDT.
If you are a financial analyst or institutional investor and would like to register for the analyst meeting please email tdunnam@qualcomm.com.
QUALCOMM Incorporated (www.qualcomm.com) is a leader in developing and delivering innovative digital wireless communications products and services based on the Company's CDMA digital technology. Headquartered in San Diego, California, QUALCOMM is included in the S&P 500 Index and is a 2004 FORTUNE 500(R) company traded on The Nasdaq Stock Market(R) under the ticker symbol QCOM.
Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
In addition to the historical information contained herein, this news release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ substantially from those referred to herein due to a number of factors, including but not limited to risks associated with: the rate of development, deployment and commercial acceptance of CDMA based networks and CDMA based technology, including CDMA2000 1X, 1xEV-DO and WCDMA, both domestically and internationally; our dependence on major customers and licensees; fluctuations in the demand for CDMA based products, services or applications; foreign currency fluctuations; strategic loans, investments and transactions the Company has or may pursue; our dependence on third party manufacturers and suppliers; our ability to maintain and improve operational efficiencies and profitability; developments in current and future litigation, as well as the other risks detailed from time-to-time in the Company's SEC reports.
QUALCOMM is a registered trademark of QUALCOMM Incorporated. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
QUALCOMM Contacts:
Bill Davidson, Investor Relations
Phone: 1-858-658-4813
Email: ir@qualcomm.com
or
Emily Gin, Corporate Public Relations
Phone: 1-858-651-4084
Email: publicrelations@qualcomm.com
SOURCE QUALCOMM Incorporated
05/04/2005
/CONTACT: Bill Davidson, Investor Relations, +1-858-658-4813,
ir@qualcomm.com, or Emily Gin, Corporate Public Relations, +1-858-651-4084,
publicrelations@qualcomm.com, both of QUALCOMM Incorporated/
/Web site: http://www.qualcomm.com/ir/earnings.html /
/Web site: http://www.qualcomm.com /
(QCOM)
Going into the Annual Meeting
- This one is not giving me a warm feeling. My vote paperwork arrived a week before the meeting. My few-thousands of shares are sitting out this one.
- I do not normally send emails to IR - but I sent one ~6 months ago. Zero reponse. (I was asking them to correct a reply to an analyst that was based on calendar year, vice QCOM's fiscal year,. if I can see the mistake, why shouldn't they fix it?)
- Again we have the major announcements the day before the public forum, Why?. Hate to see what happens in Las Vegas.
Old RB types know I'm not a basher, I'm just wondering why
Regardless, I still think that the value of Omnitracs (etc) alone is equal to 50% of QCOM's valuation
Hotels Using Cell Jammers?
Travelling at the moment. but the TV just had a piece on how some hotels are using cell phone jamming equipment to force guests to use their overpriced services. The managers are all are being charged in Federal Court (WV).
Texas Instruments Integrates Cellphone Tasks on One Chip
New York Times
By MATT RICHTEL
Published: January 24, 2005
Texas Instruments will announce today that it has integrated most of the computing functions of a mobile phone onto a single microchip, an innovation that may lead to lower manufacturing costs and improvements like longer battery life and higher data transfer rates.
The company plans to have the more integrated semiconductor widely available by the middle of 2006, making it the first major manufacturer to produce an integrated cellphone chip for the mass market, according to industry analysts.
At present, the components of a mobile phone include numerous specialized chips that control functions like sending and receiving radio frequencies, managing power and overseeing the phone's basic computing functions.
"This isn't an incremental step," said Bill Krenik, manager of wireless advanced architectures for Texas Instruments. "It's a big leap forward."
Texas Instruments is not the only company to have integrated much of that technology on a single chip. Last November, Qualcomm said it had developed integrated technology. However, its product may be in the mass market somewhat later than the Texas Instruments technology, said Alex Slawsby, an industry analyst with IDC, a research firm. Qualcomm said its chip would be available in the second half of 2006.
Mr. Slawsby said that the advantage of such chips might come initially in the production of inexpensive entry-level phones. The integrated chip, Mr. Slawsby said, would allow phone manufacturers to more quickly and cheaply produce handsets that could be sold to emerging markets.
Despite the advances toward integration of functions onto a single chip, some will remain separate. Specifically, the major chipmakers have not yet figured out how to economically integrate the memory, a specialized chip that stores phone numbers and other information.
A significant advancement is that the technology integrates two basic chips, Mr. Krenik said, the one that controls sending and receiving radio frequencies and the one that controls basic computing functions.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/24/technology/24chip.html?ex=1264222800&en=fb422f83081b425d&e...
Wi-Fi Side-By-Side [with EVDO]
By Glenn Harlan Reynolds Published 01/20/2005
I love Wi-Fi. And I've written -- as long ago as three years, and as recently as last month -- about the way technologies like Wi-Fi are leading to the reconfiguring, and repopulation, of public spaces. Here's the latest example, from Wired News:
Co-founded by graphic designer Mike Matas and programmer Wil Shipley, the company's first title, Delicious Library, was launched in November 2004. It generated $250,000 worth of sales in its first month, and the company has a crowded, popular booth here at Macworld.
But its four main employees meet every day at the popular Zoka coffee shop in Seattle's university district.
"It's cheap rent and a fun environment," said Matas. "We go down there every day with our laptops and work. It's an incredible place. They have two or three of the top baristas in the country (the awards are on the wall). We pay our rent by buying coffee. ... They love us. We're some of their best customers."
As well as creamy lattes, the coffee shop offers wireless Internet access and big, bench-like tables that several people can gather around. Often, Delicious Monster's entire seven-person staff will work there.
"When we started, there was just two of us working in an office we set up in Wil's house,' Matas said. "It lasted a week. When there's just two of you, you can't stay in one room all day."
The coffee house is full of students and several other programmers, most of whom are contractors. Its collegiate atmosphere provides inspiration, not distraction. "It's like a big library," Matas said. "We don't people-watch. We work. We work eight hours a day."
We'll see more and more of that sort of thing, and it won't be limited by Wi-Fi. A while back, I got a Verizon Wireless card for my laptop. Broadband access at 500 kbps is promised for my area in the next few months, but actually the so-called "National Access" at 80-100 kbps isn't bad at all. It's faster than dialup, and it works from anywhere, pretty much. (A couple of weeks ago I even surfed and blogged from a moving car -- while riding, not driving, I hasten to add -- in the remoter reaches of North Alabama for more than an hour without losing a connection). Since I've found myself stuck, lately, in various doctors' offices, etc., where there's no Wi-Fi, it's been a real godsend.
I'm sure I'll like it better when it goes broadband. Evan Coyne Maloney, a filmmaker who travels a lot, has the service and loves it: "Literally within a minute of plugging the card into my PowerBook, I was online and loving it. It's fast. Not super-fast, but pleasantly fast." And MSNBC's Gary Krakow certainly agrees, writing "If it all cost the same wouldn't you be interested in portable, high-speed, wireless Internet connection instead of being tethered to a Wi-Fi network at home?"
Well, maybe. Verizon is certainly pushing this service as an alternative to Wi-Fi in pretty much those terms:
"For the business customer, especially the laptop guy, it's all about speed and ubiquity," Mr. Stratton added. "I think this really puts a hurt on the entire Wi-Fi concept for the business user."
But much as I love the idea, and the service I've already got, this won't fly. Glenn Fleishman, who's certainly not hostile to EVDO services, offers a number of reasons why Verizon needs to come back to earth here, reasons having to do with speed and pipeline issues. But I think there's more to it than that, and part of it is the difference between top-down and bottom-up.
One of the really cool things about the Wi-Fi explosion is that it was a bottom-up phenomenon. The technology spread rapidly, and it's improving rapidly -- so much so that Verizon's comparison of its EVDO service with 802.11b is already obsolescent, as newer, faster and more secure flavors of 802.11 keep appearing. I've been hearing about 3G/EVDO for years while cell companies planned its introduction, but in the interim Wi-Fi has exploded on its own. Top-down approaches can seldom match bottom-up approaches for speed and adaptability.
Second is the question of energy, both consumed and emitted. My Verizon card uses up battery power at a noticeably higher rate than my Wi-Fi card. That's no surprise, given the much higher power levels that cellular transmissions require. That also means, of course, that I'm exposed to more electromagnetic radiation from the Verizon card than from Wi-Fi. That's not a big deal, as I'm certainly not a paranoid where EMF radiation is concerned, but it's certainly not a plus. And nobody wants shorter battery life.
I suppose we can't blame Verizon for the hype. But, in fact, it seems likely that services like EVDO and Wi-Fi will coexist comfortably for quite a while, because they're fundamentally different products. That's fine with me, since I'm all for diversity, technological and otherwise. I hope that the Verizon folks will realize that, rather than getting carried away with efforts to "bury" Wi-Fi under EVDO. With multiple approaches, everybody wins.
http://techcentralstation.com/012005B.html
Mobile phones save stranded Britons, Hong Kong workers in Sri Lanka
[Note: Checking CDG.org, there is no CDMA system in Sri Lanka, so these were GSM phones - interesting regardless]
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1547&ncid=1547&e=3&u=/afp/20041228/l...
Tue Dec 28,10:44 AM ET
COLOMBO (AFP) - Thirty six stranded British tourists were rescued in Sri Lanka thanks to a mobile phone with one of them and technology that could pin-point the user, an official involved in the rescue told AFP.
The Britons were picked up from the southern beach resort of Hikkaduwa where they were stranded after the tsunami lashed three-quarters of the island's coastline, killing nearly 13,000 people.
A private initiative involving all phone companies here began monitoring mobile phones with international roaming and traced the call patterns to figure out the location of the phone users.
"There were 10,252 international roaming phones working on Sri Lankan networks at the time of the tragedy," Chris Dharmakirti, who is heading the Tidal Wave Rescue Centre said. "We sent everyone an sms and got responses from 2,321.
He said 5,983 roaming phones had gone dead since the disaster while 4,269 phones had been used to make at least one call after the tragedy.
"Whenever anyone used the phone, we could track where the person was and restrict our search to affected areas of the country."
"If a phone is dead it could be that the unit is lost or the person is affected by the tragedy," Dharmakirti said. "But, we are keeping a track on these numbers."
He said they sent instructions to the phone users to call a toll-free local number that will be answered by a call centre manned by some 100 people.
"Last night we had a response from a British tourist and based on tracking his call we were able to locate a total of 36 stranded Britons," Dharmakirti said. "Four of them were critically wounded, but we managed to get to them to safety."
Another 35 Hong Kong-based employees of Morgan Stanley, leading investment bankers, who were in southern Sri Lanka were tracked down because of their international roaming phones that continued to be switched on.
"Some people who called us did not know where they were. All they could say was they were on high ground. But we were able to pin-point from where the call was coming and could rush help," he said.
The mobile phone networks too were knocked out after Sunday's tragedy, but 90 percent of the services were restored quickly by arranging mobile generators to power base stations.
"This is the first time in Sri Lanka that we have used high tech call tracking for a rescue mission. It has been highly successful and the teenagers who manned the call centre were themselves keen to go out and help victims," he said.
"What we are doing is to use this to help any survivor who is marooned and needs help."
He said people abroad could call two numbers to get information about survivors who made contact with the rescue centre. When dialling from abroad, the number is +94-11-2395230 or 94-77-3166999.
From within the country, the number to dial is 011-2395227 or from any mobile phone in the country the toll free number to call is 112.
He said there was more information on the rescue centre website www.travellanka.com.
OT: RichB - no, not at all. It was simply a posting. Maybe it is the way I spelled your name in the post. Or randomness?
InvestingInWireless.com???? Out of Pt Roberts, WA?
Sorry, my common sense flag went up on this one when I saw it was coming from Pt Roberts, WA. Rich Bloem can hopefully back me up on this one as a Huskie, as this is a forgotten appendage of the USA. Population maybe 5000, including the Canadians visiting to get cheap booze and cigarettes. Maybe someone does live there with good investment advice, but it sure is a weird place for it to be coming from. It is like living in Vancouver, BC, with a US address - best of both worlds. (look at a map, you will see what I mean)
Regardless, I'm bookmarking this for the long term for a periodic check - I'm mostly suprised to see anything come out of this place.
Cingular to Upgrade Data Network
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/01/technology/01wireless.html?pagewanted=print&position=
By MATT RICHTEL Dec 1, 2004
Cingular Wireless, the nation's largest cellphone service provider, announced plans yesterday to upgrade its high-speed data network, allowing faster downloads than are now available on many home broadband connections.
The upgrade will start at the end of 2005, and the network will be in place nationwide by 2006, Cingular said.
The move will allow Cingular to keep pace with Verizon Wireless, the second-largest wireless phone company, which has the fastest data network, industry analysts say.
Cingular did not say how much it would cost to upgrade its network.
Industry executives said it could cost around $1 billion, though that figure did not include other enhancements to the underlying network that may cost the company significantly more.
The company announced that it had selected Ericsson, Lucent Technologies and Siemens to provide technology to upgrade the network.
In October, Cingular Wireless closed its acquisition of AT&T Wireless, creating the nation's largest wireless company with 47 million subscribers. Cingular said the acquisition gave it the additional radio spectrum necessary to deploy the high-speed network.
There is already vibrant competition among wireless companies to offer the fastest data service, which allows people to send and receive information over cellphones and with properly equipped laptop computers.
Verizon Wireless, a joint venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone, says its service allows customers to receive information at 300 to 500 kilobytes per second, though rates for sending information are significantly lower.
That service is available in around 15 cities and a handful of airports, said Roger Entner, an industry analyst with the Yankee Group, a market research firm.
High-speed access delivered to residences over telephone lines can be three times as fast, but in reality, the service is often slower than 200 kilobytes per second, depending on a number of factors.
The new Cingular service will offer service at 400 to 700 kilobytes per second, a Cingular spokesman, Clay Owen, said.
He said the Cingular service would eventually be faster than what Verizon would offer.
"This leapfrogs anything Verizon is putting out," he argued.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/01/technology/01wireless.html?pagewanted=print&position=
=============
Sorry folks, sounds like WCDMA is chasing CDMA2000, and loosing, both in time to market, and speed. Regardless, QCOM makes money.
Qualcomm's bold move - Wireless Watch, UK
Caroline Gabriel ----
---- Wireless Watch
p2pnet.net News Feature:- Qualcomm has always been a company of extreme audacity. Having taken on the prevailing GSM world to establish its own de facto standard in CDMA, it has created a business around its vast store of intellectual property that, if its new results are anything to go by, has far more life left in it than naysayers would have predicted even a year ago. CDMA networks are proving resilient in face of the long and complex roll-out of UMTS; Qualcomm still has significant patents involved in that standard, and is seeking a UMTS power base of its own; and now it is leaping ahead of all wireless contenders into the nascent market for the triple play.
The chipmaker has to be bold. Its dependence on CDMA means the eventual move to all-IP networks, and the likely rise of OFDM and WiMAX, are major threats, and explain its implacable hostility to 802.11 and 802.16. Therefore it needs a game plan that will enable it to shift to new revenue streams without sacrificing its core expertise and partnerships.
The boldest part of this plan to be revealed so far is Qualcomm’s creation of a national US broadcasting network for use by carriers and other partners, which will boost uptake of CDMA and W-CDMA cellphones and, potentially, other devices that Qualcomm will devise over the coming few years.
Qualcomm plans to invest $800m over four to five years in a new subsidiary that will create a network to help carriers bring television to smartphones. While other chipmakers such as Intel mull whether to invest in spectrum in order to further their wireless strategies, Qualcomm has gone ahead and done it, buying up licenses to broadcast in the former analog television bands in the US. This mirrors its aggressiveness in buying up, through an affiliate, 450MHz spectrum in Europe and other areas to bolster the chances of CDMA in those bands.
Qualcomm will initially target 30 US cities for its MediaFLO USA network, named after its content distribution system of the same name, announced in March. Interestingly, Qualcomm also announced last month a video multicasting system for MediaFLO, simply called FLO (Forward Link Only), which uses OFDM as an alternative to the usual CDMA base. This shows the chipmaker, despite all its powerful reasons to lock its gates against any non-CDMA technology, recognizing that, for some applications, OFDM may be superior, particularly for delivering more channels of content at lower cost. While CDMA is more spectrally efficient, in general, than GSM, it cannot deliver the bandwidth of a WiMAX. If Qualcomm continues to demonstrate willingness to open up to outside technologies, it could stand an improved chance of winning in the multi-network, multi-protocol world of 4G, rather than seeking to defend an embattled CDMA kingdom against impossible odds.
In such a multi-network world, its royalty revenues would fall, but by launching added value services such as MediaFLO at an early stage, it could position itself for a far wider influence.
MediaFlo is based on OFDM outbound high speed technology and provides a one-way, high speed system to deliver audio and video. Multiple channels within Channel 55 will be made available to both CDMA and W-CDMA carriers as well as MVNOs and content resellers. This could leave the CDMA or W-CDMA channels free to deliver higher quantities of two-way data. TV broadcasters could license the network to expand their viewing base to mobile users, particularly those, like sports channel ESPN, that own content as well as distribution. Within its 6MHz spectrum, MediaFlo will be able to deliver 50-100 national or local content channels. The MediaFLO system will be an end-to-end solution, from the content distribution system through program guides and billing to the 700MHz channels.
Like Intel, Qualcomm is not seeking to be a network operator but to use spectrum to boost uptake of, and new applications for, its core revenue earner (hence the plan to spin off the unit once it has achieved its goal). Just as Brew aggregates download content for operators, handling distribution, billing and content provider relationships, so MediaFlo – which may eventually be spun off to investors – will act as an aggregator of television content for carriers, striking deals with TV stations and other parties. The network will start operating in 2006 and the first carrier to support it is Sprint, already a firm believer in mobile TV as a future revenue driver in the US.
Paul Jacobs, head of the unit that houses MediaFLO, said the FLO OFDM-based technology uses high broadcast towers and high wattage to cover a city with an average of 2-3 transmitters, using the former analog TV spectrum in 700MHz, which should be vacated by 2007-8 as the broadcasters shift into digital TV.
Qualcomm has bought the nationwide license for one of the UHF-TV channels becoming available, Channel 55, but other parties, notably the WiMAX community, have their eyes firmly on other channels in 700MHz, which lends itself to mobile broadband wireless services. It will be ironic if, just as the old broadcasters move out of their former spectrum, it is colonized not by conventional data services, as originally envisaged, but by OFDM-based networks aiming to deliver the full triple play, including television. Jacobs, like most of his peers, does not expect consumers to watch full TV programs on their phones, but envisages a new breed of more viewer-friendly wireless devices as well as growing popularity of short videos and clips. But longer term, if Qualcomm is not entirely wedded to CDMA, why the carriers leasing its MediaFLO network not seek – regulators willing – to deliver their video and TV content into consumers’ homes too, via set-top boxes and other devices? That is certainly the plan for WiMAX – the question is whether FLO will support the economics, in terms of subscriber unit design, and will attract the content partners to make it attractive to triple play wireless operators.
All this is part of Qualcomm’s bid to build on its success in CDMA and colonize new wireless markets. Qualcomm wants no less than to be a “wireless Intel” – just as Intel itself turns increasingly to wireless. While Intel, despite its cellphone architecture, sees its real wireless and mobile play as revolving around WiMAX, IP and OFDM, Qualcomm seeks to expand on its domination of the 30% of the cellphone sector that is based on CDMA by moving aggressively into the other 70%, which is moving from GSM to W-CDMA. Qualcomm, despite its very small showing in GSM-based markets to date, claims its goal is a 50% stake in W-CDMA chips, which would mean overtaking the mighty Texas Instruments.
While these ambitions seem overblown, Qualcomm certainly has the intellectual property, outsourced manufacturing partners, channels and sheer temerity to make a strong headway in W-CDMA. It will never have the clear run – and therefore the high price margins – that it enjoyed in its home base, but it needs to expand quickly, now that it faces its first ever viable challenge in CDMA from TI itself.
Merrill Lynch has stated that, if Qualcomm achieves 30% share of W-CDMA by 2007, as that market grows from 14m to 204m chips a year, earnings per share could easily swell from $1.20 in fiscal 2005 to $1.75 in 2007 - 46% growth over two years. Even 30% seems over optimistic, given TI’s strength and other challengers such as Freescale looming. But Qualcomm has the additional boost of its patent revenue – it owns about 35% of the patents underpinning W-CDMA, and the technology already accounts for 25% of Qualcomm’s total royalty revenue, indicating the high level of prices that the chipmaker is able to command for its intellectual property.
Handset maker support will be critical, since none of them are required to turn to Qualcomm as they are in CDMA. In that camp, only Nokia was strong enough to resist, making its own CDMA chips until it enlisted TI to its cause as a second source. In W-CDMA, Qualcomm has so far signed up Siemens, a confidence booster that should draw the attentions of others, notably Samsung, which is already close to Qualcomm in CDMA – and was, indeed, the critical supporter in making that technology a success in its first power base, South Korea. Also important is Qualcomm’s W-CDMA joint handset development program with Japan’s NTT DoCoMo, always an early mover in new mobile services and the largest W-CDMA carrier.
But Qualcomm, like arch-rival TI, knows that pure chipmaking is no longer a business that will deliver the type of growth and margins it craves. Instead, both giants are developing their multimedia capabilities aggressively – TI with its OMAP2 architecture and projects such as its mobile phone television chips.
Similarly, Qualcomm is transforming itself into a mobile multimedia company, though with a stronger software edge than TI. The television venture is the most audacious step, but there are many smaller signs, such as the company’s recent acquisition of Trigenix to boost its user interface software. These capabilities will be built into the Brew content download and management platform, which is taking a central position in Qualcomm’s long term strategy that explains and justifies why the company has clung for so long to the product. A year ago this seemed inexplicable – Brew, though popular with many CDMA carriers, was being dwarfed by Java and was a small part of the overall Qualcomm business. Now, as it shifts into multimedia software for handsets and into providing the core of the carrier content system, the attachment to Brew makes perfect sense.
Qualcomm is working on chips for every aspect of multimedia usage. For instance, it is using ATI’s 3D graphics chips to support mobile gaming at a new level by 2006, and is developing a chip, also slated for 2006, to beam photos directly from a handset to a nearby television. The company even aims to incorporate digital rights management into the chip to allow users to download movies to a handset and watch them by pointing the device at a television.
Such moves show that Qualcomm will not lie down and take a decline in the CDMA market passively, even as TI starts to bite into its strongest sectors. But, despite its current strong financial showing, it faces many short term hurdles before it takes on the largest risk of its television venture and W-CDMA push. Near term issues, which drove the chipmaker to warn, at its recent results announcement, of a likely “slow start to 2005”, include a slowdown in two of its most important CDMA territories, China and India. Qualcomm’s outsourced-only manufacturing model carries supply risks and it currently faces shortages of some key chips. Also, W-CDMA royalty revenues are harder to predict than CDMA ones, and TI is eating into the core CDMA sector at last.
Whether or not Qualcomm’s ambitious venture succeeds, we can’t help thinking that the WiMAX community could learn a great deal from its greatest critic. Instead of complex politicking, Qualcomm has just gone out and done it, and has pointed the way for a model where cellular networks and OFDM can coexist, playing to the greatest strength of each and providing a new business model for operators that does not cannibalize the existing network. Should WiMAX be able to penetrate TV spectrum too, the pressure will be on to come up with equally inclusive and ingenious models with which to attract the wireless triple play operators.
Caroline Gabriel - Wireless Watch, UK
http://p2pnet.net/story/2943
http://www.rethinkresearch.biz/
===
Comment: QCOM is supporting 802.11n development
QCOM Option Call data = 3.8% return on Nov 40 Calls
Just looked at the options at the close today. QCOM closed at 40.46, and the Nov 40 call last sold for $2.00. (2-0.46)/40.46 gives you a return of 3.8% for the month.
I won't do this because I'd have big capital gains if called out, and think we might see a pop after earnings and annual report later this week, but I'm surprised to see the option premium so high. The market seems to be expecting good results.
Political Polls and Wireless-Only Households
This is peripheral to QCOM, but since it is a weekend, I thought some here might be interested in this assessment on whether poll results are skewed by not including cell phone-only households. Some interesting numbers on the growth of people dropping POTS, and their demographics.
The assessment here is that this is not a big issue - yet.
This is a blog by a professional pollster (Democrat)
http://www.mysterypollster.com/main/2004/10/arianna_huffing.html
In the comments there is a discussion on those that have a landline, but rarely answer it (or screen all calls on the landline). That describes my household. It is an emergency backup if I loose my cell phone, or if the broadband Internet goes down (or to call a cell phone so we can find it in the house, where is it?).
Earnings Nov 3, 2004 - 4th QTR and Annual
QUALCOMM Incorporated (Nasdaq: QCOM) Fourth Quarter and Fiscal 2004 Earnings Release and Conference Call
Date(s): 10/4/2004 2:17:00 PM
Earnings Release
QUALCOMM Incorporated will release its fourth quarter and fiscal 2004 results on Wednesday, November 3, 2004 at approximately 1:00 p.m. (PST). After the release has been issued, QUALCOMM Investor Relations representatives will not be available to return phone calls until the conclusion of the conference call at approximately 4:00 p.m. (PST).
Earnings Conference Call
QUALCOMM will host a conference call to discuss its fourth quarter and fiscal 2004 earnings results on Wednesday, November 3, 2004 from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. (PST). The conference call will be Web cast live on QUALCOMM's Web site at www.qualcomm.com. Financial and statistical information to be discussed in the conference call will be posted on QUALCOMM's Investor Relations web site at www.qualcomm.com immediately prior to the commencement of the conference call.
The conference call will include a discussion of non-GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) financial measures. Information reconciling these non-GAAP financial measures to QUALCOMM's financial results prepared in accordance with GAAP will be posted on QUALCOMM's Investor Relations web site at www.qualcomm.com immediately prior to the commencement of the conference call.
Rebroadcast
A rebroadcast of the call will start on Wednesday, November 3, 2004 beginning at approximately 4:30 p.m. (PST). The rebroadcast will be available through November 8, 2004 at 4:30 p.m. (PST). To hear the rebroadcast, U.S. callers may dial (800) 633-8284 and international callers may dial (402) 977-9140. Please use reservation number 21209991. Audio replay of the conference call will be available on QUALCOMM's web site at www.qualcomm.com.
Questions during the live call will be taken from investment professionals only.
Historical news releases and financial documents are available on the Company's web site at www.qualcomm.com.
For further information, please contact Bill Davidson, Investor Relations of QUALCOMM Incorporated, +1-858-658-4813, ir@qualcomm.com.
SOURCE QUALCOMM Incorporated
10/04/2004
/PRNewswire-FirstCall -- Oct. 4/
/CONTACT: Bill Davidson, Investor Relations of QUALCOMM Incorporated,
+1-858-658-4813, ir@qualcomm.com/
/Web site: http://www.qualcomm.com /
(QCOM)
Revolutionary antenna technology reduces size dramatically
-- this is very forward thinking, I see it as more applicable to base stations, particularly for the 450 Mhz systems coming online in Europe ---
http://scienceblog.com/community/article2865.html
Rob Vincent, an employee in the University of Rhode Island's Physics Department, proves the adage that necessity is the mother of invention.
An amateur radio operator since he was 14, Vincent has always lived in houses situated on small lots. Because he couldn't erect a large antenna on a confined property, he has been continually challenged over the years to find a way to get better reception.
"I was always tinkering in the basement. Thank goodness, my parents were tolerant. I can still remember my poor father driving up our driveway after a hard day's work to see wires wrapped around the house," Vincent recalls. "The Holy Grail of antenna technology is to create a small antenna with high efficiency and wide bandwidth," explains Vincent. "According to current theory, you have to give up one of the three--size, efficiency, or bandwidth--to achieve any one of the other two."
After decades of experimentation, combined with a 30-year engineering career and Yankee ingenuity, Vincent has invented a revolutionary antenna technology. The distributed loaded monopole antennas are smaller, produce high efficiency, and retain good to excellent bandwidth. And they have multiple applications.
With this technology it will be possible to double, at minimum, the range of walkie-talkies used by police, fire, and other municipal personnel. Naval ships, baby monitors, and portable antennas for military use are other applications. An antenna could be mounted on a chip in a cell phone and be applied to wireless local area networks. Another application deals with radio frequency identification, which is expected someday to replace the barcode system.
"It could even make the Dick Tracy wrist radio with all the features, such as Internet access, a possibility," Vincent says.
The inventor pursued his quest to build a better antenna in earnest eight years ago when he and his significant other moved into a house situated on a 50-foot by 100-foot lot in Warwick. There was nothing on the commercial market that could fit the lot that would provide the performance Vincent needed to be heard in distant lands and that would be acceptable to his neighbors. All the small antennas being sold were inefficient and lacked bandwidth, which resulted in low performance and high frustration.
Vincent looked at the techniques that were currently used to reduce antenna size and realized something was missing in the way everyone was approaching the problem.
He began to model various combinations into a computer program called MathCad. His first attempt produced a 21 MHz band antenna that was 18 inches high. Normally, antennas for this band are 12 to 24 feet high. Vincent installed the antenna in his back yard. The legal limit that amateurs can operate is 1,000 watts with the norm being 100 watts. The amateur radio operator experimented with 5 to 10 watts. He reached a station in Chile and made contacts in various European countries. Meanwhile he kept adding power until it reached 100 watts. That's when things suddenly went bad. Walking outside in the backyard, he understood why. The antenna had melted.
After examining the molten matter, Vincent wasn't discouraged. This was only a small model and not designed to handle much power. The part of the antenna that failed proved to be the key to the design. After analyzing the failure, Vincent realized that he was able to transform a lot of current along the antenna with even relatively low power.
"Antennas radiate by setting up large amounts of current flow through various parts of their structure," he says. "The larger the current the more radiation and the better the output of the antenna."
Vincent went back to the drawing board and continued to improve the technology. Relying on his nearly 30 years at Raytheon Co. and at KVH Industries in Middletown R.I which provided him with a diversified background in electronics and electronic systems, Vincent overcame a myriad of problems and succeeded.
He established three test sites for various prototypes. Antennas were placed in Westport, Mass. in a salt marsh, the best ground for transmission and reception. Another set of antennas were placed on rocky ground in Cumberland, R.I., the worst kind of site, and at a Warwick site which is in between the two. The antennas, which resemble flagpoles, worked well at all locations.
Tests confirmed that Vincent has created antennas at one third to one ninth of their full size counterparts. Normally smaller antennas are only 8 to 15 percent efficient. Vincent's antennas achieved 80 to 100 percent efficiency as compared to the larger antennas.
A patent is pending on Vincent's technology. The inventor has made the University of Rhode Island and its Physics Department partners that will benefit from any revenue his invention earns. "The University and its Physics Department has been very supportive and given me time and space to work on this project," says Vincent who was recently presented the 2004 Outstanding Intellectual Property Award by URI's Research Office. "I couldn't have done this without the University's support. It's only fair that it share in the profits."
Hot Spots in Critical Condition
http://wireless.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_title=Hot_Spots_in_Critical_Condition&story_id=...
By Ephraim Schwartz
May 13, 2004 5:09PM
What do you think the huge, multimillion-dollar advertising wars and the multibillion-dollar battle for cellular spectrum have been all about? Does anyone believe the cellular carriers are going to say, "Oh, never mind, you're better off with Wi-Fi"? Not likely.
Last August, I gave the reasons why wireless hot spots would not survive. Stubbornly, public Wi-Fi access providers don't agree. They still see the hundreds of thousands of storefronts that lack access points as green fields waiting to be plowed.
It's a mirage. Just because you build it does not mean they will come.
But didn't Wayport Technologies just land a big deal with McDonald's to install hot spots in their burger joints around the country? Yes, and it's true that there are 13,500 McDonald's restaurants between New York and California. Wayport is happily selling picks and shovels to miners. But the miners are not going to strike gold.
For a fresh insight, I turned to Randy Battat, president and CEO of Airvana, a mobile infrastructure provider. Wi-Fi's free spectrum and $100 access points have a lot of appeal, Battat notes. But the problem is that you need to get that wireless data to the wired Internet. A T1 line costs about $500 per line per month, depending on the distance to the ISP. How many T1 lines will be needed to offer decent service in a typical McDonald's, which seats anywhere from 40 to 160 people?
"You're certainly not going to have eight T1s so everyone can get 11 Mbps performance," Battat says.
On the other hand, the cellular towers and base stations are already in place. EvDO (evolution data only), a new, high-speed cellular data technology, offers 300 Kbps to 600 Kbps throughput at the low end, with maximum performance rated at 2.4 Mbps. Adding EvDO to an existing cellular network often means simply installing new cards in the base stations (and, yes, Airvana makes those cards).
The only companies in a financial position to lay out a nationwide Wi-Fi network are the cellular carriers, but with EvDO on the horizon, they have little incentive. Expect them to follow the lead of T-Mobile and market hot-spot service as a loss leader in order to win more subscribers for their cellular networks.
After all, what do you think the huge, multimillion-dollar advertising wars and the multibillion-dollar battle for cellular spectrum have been all about for the last five years? Does anyone believe the cellular carriers are going to say, "Oh, never mind, you're better off with Wi-Fi"? Not likely.
Cellular carriers will take over most subscriber-based hot spots and slowly kill them off, either by acquisition or through partnerships. If you find that hard to believe, think of Wi-Fi hot spots as you now think of pay phones on street corners.
Verizon has already announced its national roll-out of EvDO, and other carriers are right behind. By summer's end, Verizon will have EvDO in its top 30 markets; by early 2005, most of the country will be blanketed.
Why would a CFO sign-off on employee subscriptions to five different Wi-Fi service providers with a fraction of cellular's coverage area, instead of signing up with a single service provider that offers coverage just about everywhere?
Access to a broadband data network from anywhere is powerful. It will dramatically increase productivity from both an employee standpoint as well as from the standpoint of increasing the flow of information in real time to dramatically improve decision making.
The wireless carriers are in the process of building that broadband network. When CFOs and CTOs realize what's being offered, they will come.
© 2004 InfoWorld i/a/w MarketWatch.com, Inc. All rights reserved.
© 2004 NewsFactor Network. All rights reserved.
Comment: After the Cometa announcement, this is interesting. I searched the board on Airvana - not too much.
Qualcomm faces chip payments
By Tom Foremski in San Francisco
Published: April 22 2004 21:58 / Last Updated: April 22 2004 21:58
A rapidly worsening shortage of manufacturing capacity could force Qualcomm to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to guarantee production of its mobile-phone chips.
Irwin Jacobs, chief executive, said he was considering extra payments to its manufacturing partners because of unexpectedly high demand.
On Wednesday, the company, one of the leading mobile-phone chipmakers, reported a strong second quarter and record chip shipments of 32m units. But it said it could not meet demand and warned the shortage could last up to two quarters.
Qualcomm is the world's largest chip company to use contract chipmakers, known as foundries, to make its products. Its foundry partners are Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation and International Business Machines.
Mr Jacobs said: "We are considering a number of options to boost chip supplies and are talking with our foundry partners and with others."
He said making a large payment or investment was one option under discussion.
In February, Sony paid IBM $325m towards guaranteeing enough chips for its next videogame console.
Qualcomm would be facing a similar sized payment, said Malcolm Penn, principal analyst at Future Horizons, the chip industry research company.
He said: "Qualcomm would have to come up with a large sum of money to pay for additional manufacturing capacity because there is very little capacity available.
"The foundries have not been making the capital investments they needed to make because they have been through a long downturn."
Mr Jacobs conceded that Qualcomm's costs would rise but it would benefit from the extra revenues the chip sales would bring.
Qualcomm's problems point to a broader issue facing hundreds of chipmakers that depend on using outside contractors. This is the fastest growing segment of the global $160bn chip industry, and allows small chip companies to design advanced semiconductors without having to build their own manufacturing facilities - fabs. These can cost more than $2bn.
Mr Penn said: "If Qualcomm, the largest fabless chip company and with considerable clout, can't get manufacturing capacity, you can bet that there are many others that are going to have, or are having, similar issues."
The fabless semiconductor model has grown rapidly in recent years because of a glut of chip-manufacturing capacity because of large expansion four years ago. This led to a glut of chips and in 2001 the chip industry suffered it largest drop in global revenues - a 32 per cent fall.
Since then, the pace of capital investments in fabs has been conservative, leading to the manufacturing capacity crunch that is now emerging.
http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=107...
============
[Comment: and now the FUD begins. Is overwhelming demand a negative, or a positive? RichBloem stated in 9508 about inventory buildup creating problems, well here is the opposite, more shortages. Maybe. Actually, if I knew more about the subject (fabless companies), I'd likely short the smaller fabless companies out there because the biggest will get what it wants, or at least more than the rest.]
BTW, My Omnitracs analysis will come out in a day of two for the old RB folks. no numbers yet, but the old numbers were $20-25/share for the forgotten stepchild of Qualcomm]
Sierra Wireless Upgraded (from briefing.com)
09:37 SWIR: Sierra Wireless tgt raised to $40 from $32 at CIBC (34.91 +0.47)
According to firm industry fundamentals in Sierra Wireless' core PC Card market continue to improve, and firm thinks there is upside to its F04/F05 AirCard forecasts as a result of a continued ramp in EV-DO activity and stronger than expected European 3G datacard services rollout and carrier commitment. CIBC raises tgt to $40 from $32 and increases '04 est to $0.50 from $0.49
and '05 to $1.01 from $0.78.
Punkin - your UMTS cabal statement would violate international patent law. I figure you are just trying to get us riled up here, and once again you show a profound lack of understanding of the fundamentals. QCOM has the legal standing to hold by its IPR standards, and your "cabal" can't do anything about it, except hurt themselves by not deploying UMTS.
And a "member of UMTS?" What group are you talking about that has the legal authority to do what you propose? The standards are done by the ITU and ETSI, also 3GPP contributes. Maybe you are referring to the UMTS Forum? Regardless, none of these can change international patent and copywrite law which is codified in treaties (vice administrative law and standards). QCOM can simply refuse to play, and everything comes crashing down on UMTS. (WTO also is involved in patent enforcement).
Your post is wishful thinking.
Eric - since the weekend approaches, I'll now say I've long had CTIA Wireless on my calendar, as have many others here, I'm sure. This is the, repeat, the, industry event for Qualcomm. If the past is any indication, Data Rox will have lots of fresh news on Monday with QCOM press releases. And you can check the history to see what the stock does around this trade show.
This is normally when the announcement of the next generation of chips is announced. And only once has QCOM failed to deliver on time (a few months late, going from memory here). I'm really curious to see what the next gen will be. What is left?
Korea – Chip Shortage and Sat TV to phone
Reading today’s news from DR, a few items caught my eye.
- Chip Shortage – up to a 15-week lead time for delivery of MSMs by QCOM (#8579). First time I’ve noticed this number, usually it states 70-80% were delivered. However, DRAM shortages are expected to be the controlling component later in the year, so they won’t have QCOM to blame then (#8574).
- SKT has launched a satellite to broadcast TV to mobile phones. (#8583). Running through their numbers, they expect the phones to cost US$600, with a breakeven of 2.2 Million customers, and goal of 6 Million. SK population aged 15-64 is 35M, so 6% of adults to breakeven (12% of SKT’s current customers). I’m not going to guess as to the feasibility of this market, but $600 phones raises the royalty income to QCOM. At their stated breakeven, this leads to revenues of ~$760M/year ($29/mo/customer), from a satellite that cost $310M (plus launch costs – 100M? And operating costs.). Something about the numbers here doesn’t add up.
South Korea Political Problems - President Impeached
This may affect QCOM's short-term stock price depending on how things play out. Usual FUD.
Divided S. Koreans Impeach President
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A49867-2004Mar11?language=printer
Roh is to be automatically suspended from office for up to six months pending a ruling by South Korea's nine-member Constitutional Court, leaving Prime Minister Goh Kun temporarily in charge at a pivotal time. South Korea, with Asia's fourth-largest economy, faces political chaos as it struggles with a fragile economic recovery and as totalitarian North Korea has vowed to become a nuclear power. In Seoul, stock shares tumbled more than 5 percent after the vote. ....
Hahm Sung Deuk, a leading political analyst at Korea University in Seoul, said: "There will be major fallout from this for South Korea; impeachment will mean increased economic and political uncertainty. This is a time when we need stability, and instead, we have the opposite."