Qualcomm Inc (QCOM)

[khemara_qc]

Qualcomm: growth to double in India, not to pick stake in RIM

New Delhi, Mar 17 (UNI) US-based Qualcomm Inc, the pioneer of Code
Division Multiple Access technology in telecom, today said it is
no longer talking to Reliance Infocomm for equity stake and expects
over two-fold growth in India in 2004.
''We are talking to Reliance Infocomm for a technical tie-up
only and not for acquiring equity stake,'' Qualcomm Inc Group
President Paul E Jacobs told newsmen here today after addressing
a seminar on the eve of the three-day Convergence India, 2004.
Earlier, the San Diego-based company was in talks with Reliance
Infocomm to pick up four per cent stake for 200 million dollars.
That deal did not concretise and Mr Jacobs denied any further move
in that direction.
He said around six million handsets with Qualcomm technology were
sold in India last year ended September 30, 2003 and this year the
sale was expected to be 13 million. Mr Jacobs had earlier said that
Qualcomm was ``scrambling'' to meet rising demand for chips in the
US, India, China and Latin America.
Worldwide, the company is expecting sale of 142 million handsets
based on its technology this year.
Mr Jacobs also said that Qualcomm is planning to set up a
development centre in India with a ''significant investment''. While
refusing to put any timeframe, he said the development centre would
have more than 100 engineers. The facility is reportedly proposed to
be set up in Bangalore.
''The centre will work on chip design and software,'' Mr Jacobs
said.

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