InterDigital Inc (IDCC)

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Microsoft and Qualcomm Prefer China Unicom



BEIJING, Mar 03, 2003 (SinoCast via COMTEX) -- On February 28 Microsoft and China Unicom will sign cooperation agreement. Microsoft hopes to enter the value-added mobile data market with the help of China Unicom. On February 26 Qualcomm setup the joint venture of China Unicom Bolu co-founded with China Unicom. The new company will focus on the value-added mobile business.

This cooperation of China Unicom is signed after the test of GSM1X of China Unicom conducted in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province.

The joint venture China Unicom Bolu will focus on construction of BREW. China Unicom Bolu is located in Yuanyang Building, Haidian District, Beijing. Qualcomm refuses to disclose the detail of registration capital of the joint venture, only says the first stage of registration capital is above RMB 30 million which China Unicom and Qualcomm hold 50% respectively. And they will invest further according to the operation of the new company.

Since January 2003 Microsoft expressed many times to design and produce CDMA mobile phones with operation system of Smart Phone and Pocket PC 2000. Microsoft needs 20 million mobile phones and PDAs installed with its software for making ends meet. But up to now, Microsoft makes only cooperation with several mid-end mobile phone vendors.

Although Microsoft's software is better than BREW but it has higher cost. As for China Unicom, BREW is enough.
From Source: International Finance News page 1, Friday, February 28, 2003
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KEYWORD: BEIJING
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: Joint Venture
International Exchange
SUBJECT CODE: Computers, Telecom and Information Technolog