Digital Wireless Handsets to Grow More Than 60 Percent in 2000 Texas Instruments Executive Tells Investor Conference;New Phones Demand Higher Performance Digital Signal Processors
PALM SPRINGS, Calif., Feb. 10, The head of Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN - news; TI) wireless business unit told a Goldman Sachs Technology Symposium in Palm Springs today that 1999's torrid pace in the market for wireless phones should continue into 2000.
And TI's outlook is for strong demand to continue for the next several years as semiconductor technology propels the market toward third generation (3G) phones that will have the ability to link to the
Internet with high-speed connections.
"The wireless market is still booming," said Gilles Delfassy, vice president and manager of TI's worldwide wireless communications business. "We estimate that the digital wireless handset market will grow by more than 60 percent this year to 435 million units. Not only do TI's digital signal processors power more than 60 percent of today's phones, we're also engaged in development programs with the market leaders, including both NOKIA and ERICSSON, to literally mobilize the Internet with next-generation phones."
TI is the leading supplier of semiconductors for digital wireless handsets. Beyond its industry-best position in the DSP ''brain''
for wireless phones.
TI has an equally strong market position in analog components for wireless phones. In total, eight out of 10 digital phones shipped worldwide have TI semiconductor products inside. The importance of TI's manufacturing strength is becoming increasingly evident as market volumes continue to increase. According to Delfassy, although it took five years in the mid-1990s for TI to ship its first 100 million DSPs into the wireless market, TI will ship that many DSPs to wireless phone makers in the first few months of this year alone.
"By working closely with the world's leading digital phone makers, we've been able to make wireless phones smarter, more
powerful and more mobile," Delfassy said.
"The next step is enabling new features in wireless handsets like streaming audio,video and mobile e-commerce through wireless broadband capabilities."
New wireless standards and the demanding data applications they allow will dramatically increase the need for higher DSP performance. Tomorrow's digital wireless phones will do much more than transmit voice calls.
They will be wireless Internet portals. These wireless phones will need significantly more processing performance than today's phones but still use the same --or less -- battery power.
''Applications will be the key,'' Delfassy said. "TI addresses those needs through our Open Multimedia Applications Platform,or OMAP. OMAP supports sharply increased data rates, enabling a wide range of new functions.
While being backward compatible with wireless products in use today, OMAP's software flexibility will enable consumers to buy and download new applications from their phones directly from the Internet, in the same fashion as personal computers can be upgraded today with
new applications."
Already, two of the world's largest digital wireless phone makers -- Nokia and Ericsson -- are in development programs with TI to use OMAP for their next generation phones.
On the base station side, eight out of the world's top 10 base station manufacturers have chosen a new TI DSP specifically targeting 3G base stations.
TI is the world leader in both the DSP and analog semiconductor markets. Analog technologies provide critical real-world
interfaces for the digital signal processor and also help control system power to maximize battery life for mobile applications.
These are two critical technologies behind a range of advanced communications equipments -- from digital wireless phones to
broadband connections to the home, including digital subscriber line (DSL) modems and cable modems.
''Success in the wireless market requires leading-edge diverse technologies, financial strength, production capacity and wireless
systems expertise. TI has all that,'' Delfassy said. ''We're working very hard to extend our leadership position as wireless
phones move to data-rich next generation applications.''
Texas Instruments Incorporated is a global semiconductor company and the world's leading designer and supplier of digital
signal processing and analog technologies, the engines driving the digitization of electronics. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, the
company's businesses also include materials and controls and educational and productivity solutions. The company has
manufacturing or sales operations in more than 25 countries.
Texas Instruments is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol TXN. More information is located on the
World Wide Web at ti.com.
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