Qualcomm Inc (QCOM)

[khemara_qc]

I am wandering: will NOKIA use QCOM's EV-DO Chipset indirectly by the intermediary of a Korean Supplyer?
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Curitel wins $1.6 bn US mobile deal
Reuters
Seoul, December 20

http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1161199,0003.htm

Curitel Communications Inc of South Korea said on Monday it had won a $1.6 billion deal to supply mobile phones to the wireless unit of US consumer electronics maker Audiovox Corp.

News of the deal, which exceeds Curitel's total 2003 revenue of $1.3 billion, sent the phone handset maker's shares up more than seven per cent, although some analysts said the deal might get scaled back.

"It's definitely a great boon to Curitel because typically profit margins from exports to the US market are much higher than domestic margins," said Greg Roh, an analyst at Dongwon Securities Co.

"However, there is a risk of scaling down the size of the supply later, if US demand is not as strong as expected."

Separately, Curitel confirmed a report that Nokia, the world's top mobile phone maker, had contacted it concerning the possible supply of advanced CDMA-based EV-DO handsets.

EV-DO is a high-speed data transfer service that supports Internet access speeds of about 300,000 bits a second -- about six times as fast as dial-up links in most homes.

CDMA, or code division multiple access, is a mobile phone technology widely used in the United States, Japan, South Korea and China.

"But there have been no follow-up negotiations," Koh Eun-sil, a Curitel spokeswoman, said by telephone.

Internet news provider edaily reported Curitel and SK Teletech Co, a unit of SK Telecom Co, were considering requests from Nokia to export mobile phones. Officials at SK Teletech said they could not confirm the report.

South Korean telecoms firms have been looking to offshore markets to offset sluggish growth in the saturated domestic mobile phone market. Three-quarters of the country's 48 million population already have at least one mobile phone.

Curitel would provide 10 million mobile phone units to Audiovox Communications Corp. for one year starting on December 20, 2004, the company said in a public notice to the Korea Stock Exchange.

"It is a significant deal that will grab the attention of U.S. consumers because it is the first time Curitel has exported mobile phones carrying its own brand name in the United States," said Koh.

Audiovox would sell mostly premium Curitel models that have digital cameras and other high-tech features, she said. Audiovox was acquired by telecom equipment gear maker UTStarcom Inc earlier this year. Curitel had signed a letter of intent to buy a controlling stake in Audiovox, but a final deal never materialised.

Assuming all the phones were sold, Curitel's handsets would account for about 15 per cent of the US CDMA-based mobile phone market in 2005, Koh said.