Heres Eddie!
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Investors sold off shares of
Sawtek Inc. (SAWS) Monday after Qualcomm Inc.
(QCOM) announced that it is developing a chip that eliminates the need for Sawtek's SAW
filters in wireless phones.
Qualcomm's RadioOne technology, which the company said will be used in third-generation
wireless CDMA 2000 phones in the fourth quarter of 2001, converts radio frequencies to and
from analog signals in one step as opposed to using filters - such as Sawtek's SAW filters.
However, CDMA 2000 might never become a standard for wireless phones, according to
Edward F. Snyder, wireless technology analyst at Chase H&Q.
"CDMA 2000 is a product that no-one is buying today and probably will not buy in the
future," Snyder said.
Instead of buying cell phones with a CDMA 2000 technology (the one that eliminates the need
for SAW filters), people will buy a so-called wideband CDMA, which resembles the European
version of wireless.
"We saw it last week in Korea, when the government was selling wireless licenses. They could
not sell the CDMA 2000 licenses. Everybody wanted the European version," Snyder said.
Monday's Qualcomm announcement has, according to Snyder, no impact on Sawtek's
business for the foreseeable future. Investors were selling the stock as a knee-jerk reaction to
the Qualcomm announcement, he said.
A Sawtek official was not immediately available for comment.
A Qualcomm spokesperson said the company would not comment on Sawtek.
Shares of Sawtek recently traded at $47, down $17.75, or 37.2%, on volume of 8.7 million.
Average daily volume is 1.3 million. |
