01/09 01:24
Qualcomm May Shift Some Chipmaking to China From U.S., Taiwan
By Michael Forsythe
quote.bloomberg.com
Beijing, Jan. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Qualcomm Inc., whose patented technology is used in about 100 million mobile phones, will start making chips for handsets in China, the world's largest cellular phone market by subscribers.
San Diego-based Qualcomm employs outside manufacturers in the U.S. and Taiwan to make chips with its technology which helps carry more calls over available frequencies than the rival European technology more common in China. The company may shift some production to plants in China owned by companies such as Motorola Inc., Irwin Jacobs, Qualcomm's chief executive, said.
``We are talking with possible companies who will set up manufacturing capability here in China,'' Jacobs told reporters in Beijing. ``When that's available, we will certainly make use of it.''
Expanding sales in China, with 140 million mobile-phone users, may help boost Qualcomm's earnings. In fiscal 2001, the company's profit, excluding acquisition costs and other items, fell 1.8 percent to $788.9 million.
Qualcomm's China operations will be profitable in the next fiscal year, Jacobs said.
Shares in the company have fallen 34 percent in the past year, while the Nasdaq Composite Index has declined 16 percent. |
