AI
Friday, February 18, 2011 11:47:20 PM
Microsoft, Nokia, and Qualcomm ...
Hi Rich,
<< Eric, it will certainly be interesting to see how this all plays out. How much rein will MS allow Nokia to play with the software, how much say MS will have in approving any major change in chipsets, how much they will allow other WP7 vendors to have the same freedom. >>
I personally think it will be extremely interesting (exciting even), but at the moment I would not venture even a guess on how it will play out. There is simply not enough detail available to begin to hazard a guess, but it's one hell of an ecosystem play.
I would guess that Nokia will have reasonably substantial influence on Win Phone 8 software development and I also expect that other vendors will have less ... but that's a personal expectation, and certainly not a given. Nokia is most likely not going to field product 1 and a range of product to quickly follow for the better part of a year. I'm guessing they'll enter with Win Phone 8, not 7. In the interim Softie (and Nokia) need other vendors to press forward and bring evolving Win Phone product to market.
Why such lack of detail? For one thing, Nokia and Softie don't even have a finalized agreement in place. They have a terms sheet, and a lot of water needs to flow under the dam before the agreement is finalized. Somewhere I heard (and darned if I can remember where I heard it or whether the source was somewhat credible, although I think I thought it was) that the 2 companies expected to have the formal agreement finalized and signed within 90 days. -- mot 2 weeks or even 2 months. I don't really see it happening too much quicker. Compromises will need to be reached (they will) and the legal staffs, not just management, will be plenty busy. In the interim we'll hear a rumor a day (an AROD) while the limos pull in an out of the MS Redmond campus and Nokia's new Silicon Valley headquarters in downtown Sunnyvale ...
Your nicely firm Nokia namesake will likely be deeply involved in the negotiation and he's no stranger to such discussions ....
http://9sss.sl.pt
So will this 39 year old Brit (Louise Pertland) who became Nokia CLO in 2008 and a member of Nokia's Leadership team (formerly the Group Executive Board) last week. She serves as vice chair of the International Bar Association, Corporate Counsel Forum, is a qualified and active Solicitor in England and Wales as well as a licensed attorney and an active member of the New York Bar ...
<< Will Nokia play nicely with MS ?? I know Elop will, but will those in the trenches ?? >>
Why wouldn't they? Firm but nice. Both sides bring a lot to the table and are looking for a win-win. I would anticipate one side playing as nicely (and firmly) as the other. The trenches on either side probably won't hold much sway ... best not hold much sway or they'll need to find another trench. Steve and Stephen are committed to making this work and the fact that they have worked closely with each other for the last few years almost insures it, I would think.
Out of curiosity how do you know Stephen will? <ggg>
<< ST/Ericsson in only one of the many that will now be trying to bring the WP7 ecostructure a viable option to Q >>
For sure. Many, many, Qualcomm is, however, nicely positioned as silicon supply for Windows Phone expands which it was bound to be with or without Nokia in the picture although Nokia certainly enables that expansion. A single source of supply simply would not hack it for Microsoft beyond getting initial Win Phone 7 production relatively quickly out the door by having a single reference platform. Two potential Win Phone silicon suppliers with strong ties to Nokia (and Microsoft in the latter case) that I particularly wonder about are Broadcom and Renesas. Strategy Analytics wrote last week ...
"As for chipset vendors, last week we wrote that Qualcomm could be a prime beneficiary from this deal. We believe Nokia will add Qualcomm, Broadcom, ST-Ericsson, Renesas and Intel to its Windows Phone supplier list. We will know more on these questions as it unfolds.".
http://9swa.sl.pt.
No mention of TI. I wouldn't necessarily rule 'em out. MediaTek? I don't see them as a potential supplier to Nokia and they have their own problems of late, but they could be in play with Softie. Time will tell.
Here's PR from Renesas about their (non-integrated) LTE Triple-Mode Modem Platform, the SP2531 ...
The platform is Renesas Mobile’s first modem product integrating technologies from Renesas Electronics and the latest generation of the advanced modem technology developed by the former Nokia Corporation’s Wireless Modem team ... The LTE triple-mode modem platform is targeted at the convergence market which demands high performance, high levels of integration and a power efficient implementation covering such key use cases as browsing and streaming. It also supports TD-LTE and FDD-LTE cat 3 (100Mbps downlink (DL) / 50Mbps uplink (UL)) along with HSPA+ features such as DC-HSDPA cat 24 and HSUPA cat 7 giving 3G data rates of 42Mbps (DL) /11.5Mbps (UL) respectively with global coverage through its unique RF design. The LTE triple-mode modem platform comes with extensive support for all the major mobile OS’s including Android, MeeGo and Symbian as well as Linux and Windows Mobile on PCs allowing easy integration as an embedded modem, including standalone, or a companion to an applications processor in a high-end smartphones or tablet devices. ... The triple-mode modem platform will be available for sampling in March 2011 as a reference design and comes complete with consulting services to enable rapid time to production. Mass production is expected to be in late 2011.
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110208007253/en/Renesas-Electronics-Renesas-Mobile-Announce-LTE-Triple-Mode
That's about all I know or can even reasonably speculate on. As usual its darned hard to keep track of all the happenings at GSMA's MWC.
Did we see a QCOM decade closing high today? Finest kind, as Captain Hawkeye Pierce, MD, from Crabapple Cove, Maine, and as portrayed originally by Donald Sutherland from Elop's country of origin and citizenship was fond of saying. Hats off to PJ, who was the subject of much distracting whining, moaning, and groaning on our various Qualcomm boards for some time. Heck, we were in a global recession, and like many others in mobile wireless. Qualcomm was impacted severely.
Best,
- Eric -
Hi Rich,
<< Eric, it will certainly be interesting to see how this all plays out. How much rein will MS allow Nokia to play with the software, how much say MS will have in approving any major change in chipsets, how much they will allow other WP7 vendors to have the same freedom. >>
I personally think it will be extremely interesting (exciting even), but at the moment I would not venture even a guess on how it will play out. There is simply not enough detail available to begin to hazard a guess, but it's one hell of an ecosystem play.
I would guess that Nokia will have reasonably substantial influence on Win Phone 8 software development and I also expect that other vendors will have less ... but that's a personal expectation, and certainly not a given. Nokia is most likely not going to field product 1 and a range of product to quickly follow for the better part of a year. I'm guessing they'll enter with Win Phone 8, not 7. In the interim Softie (and Nokia) need other vendors to press forward and bring evolving Win Phone product to market.
Why such lack of detail? For one thing, Nokia and Softie don't even have a finalized agreement in place. They have a terms sheet, and a lot of water needs to flow under the dam before the agreement is finalized. Somewhere I heard (and darned if I can remember where I heard it or whether the source was somewhat credible, although I think I thought it was) that the 2 companies expected to have the formal agreement finalized and signed within 90 days. -- mot 2 weeks or even 2 months. I don't really see it happening too much quicker. Compromises will need to be reached (they will) and the legal staffs, not just management, will be plenty busy. In the interim we'll hear a rumor a day (an AROD) while the limos pull in an out of the MS Redmond campus and Nokia's new Silicon Valley headquarters in downtown Sunnyvale ...
Your nicely firm Nokia namesake will likely be deeply involved in the negotiation and he's no stranger to such discussions ....
http://9sss.sl.pt
So will this 39 year old Brit (Louise Pertland) who became Nokia CLO in 2008 and a member of Nokia's Leadership team (formerly the Group Executive Board) last week. She serves as vice chair of the International Bar Association, Corporate Counsel Forum, is a qualified and active Solicitor in England and Wales as well as a licensed attorney and an active member of the New York Bar ...
<< Will Nokia play nicely with MS ?? I know Elop will, but will those in the trenches ?? >>
Why wouldn't they? Firm but nice. Both sides bring a lot to the table and are looking for a win-win. I would anticipate one side playing as nicely (and firmly) as the other. The trenches on either side probably won't hold much sway ... best not hold much sway or they'll need to find another trench. Steve and Stephen are committed to making this work and the fact that they have worked closely with each other for the last few years almost insures it, I would think.
Out of curiosity how do you know Stephen will? <ggg>
<< ST/Ericsson in only one of the many that will now be trying to bring the WP7 ecostructure a viable option to Q >>
For sure. Many, many, Qualcomm is, however, nicely positioned as silicon supply for Windows Phone expands which it was bound to be with or without Nokia in the picture although Nokia certainly enables that expansion. A single source of supply simply would not hack it for Microsoft beyond getting initial Win Phone 7 production relatively quickly out the door by having a single reference platform. Two potential Win Phone silicon suppliers with strong ties to Nokia (and Microsoft in the latter case) that I particularly wonder about are Broadcom and Renesas. Strategy Analytics wrote last week ...
"As for chipset vendors, last week we wrote that Qualcomm could be a prime beneficiary from this deal. We believe Nokia will add Qualcomm, Broadcom, ST-Ericsson, Renesas and Intel to its Windows Phone supplier list. We will know more on these questions as it unfolds.".
http://9swa.sl.pt.
No mention of TI. I wouldn't necessarily rule 'em out. MediaTek? I don't see them as a potential supplier to Nokia and they have their own problems of late, but they could be in play with Softie. Time will tell.
Here's PR from Renesas about their (non-integrated) LTE Triple-Mode Modem Platform, the SP2531 ...
The platform is Renesas Mobile’s first modem product integrating technologies from Renesas Electronics and the latest generation of the advanced modem technology developed by the former Nokia Corporation’s Wireless Modem team ... The LTE triple-mode modem platform is targeted at the convergence market which demands high performance, high levels of integration and a power efficient implementation covering such key use cases as browsing and streaming. It also supports TD-LTE and FDD-LTE cat 3 (100Mbps downlink (DL) / 50Mbps uplink (UL)) along with HSPA+ features such as DC-HSDPA cat 24 and HSUPA cat 7 giving 3G data rates of 42Mbps (DL) /11.5Mbps (UL) respectively with global coverage through its unique RF design. The LTE triple-mode modem platform comes with extensive support for all the major mobile OS’s including Android, MeeGo and Symbian as well as Linux and Windows Mobile on PCs allowing easy integration as an embedded modem, including standalone, or a companion to an applications processor in a high-end smartphones or tablet devices. ... The triple-mode modem platform will be available for sampling in March 2011 as a reference design and comes complete with consulting services to enable rapid time to production. Mass production is expected to be in late 2011.
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110208007253/en/Renesas-Electronics-Renesas-Mobile-Announce-LTE-Triple-Mode
That's about all I know or can even reasonably speculate on. As usual its darned hard to keep track of all the happenings at GSMA's MWC.
Did we see a QCOM decade closing high today? Finest kind, as Captain Hawkeye Pierce, MD, from Crabapple Cove, Maine, and as portrayed originally by Donald Sutherland from Elop's country of origin and citizenship was fond of saying. Hats off to PJ, who was the subject of much distracting whining, moaning, and groaning on our various Qualcomm boards for some time. Heck, we were in a global recession, and like many others in mobile wireless. Qualcomm was impacted severely.
Best,
- Eric -
