re: Samsung Chipsets for 1xRTT and WCDMA
* Samsung 1xRTT
* Samsung Dual-Mode GSM/WCDMA
>> Samsung’s Chip Threatens Qualcomm
Kim Deok-hyun
Staff Reporter
Korea Times
September 5, 2002
Samsung Electronics has developed a core chipset for CDMA2000 1X networks, challenging Qualcomm’s dominance of digital wireless communications services and productions.
The development is welcome news for domestic mobile phone carriers and handset manufacturers that have had to pay hefty patent royalties to the San Diego-based technology company.
With the technical breakthrough, Samsung Electronics has gained an upper hand to negotiate with Qualcomm on a slew of controversy over unfavorable royalties, analysts here said.
"Samsung's development of its own 1X chipset will not only allow the company to save in royalties ordinarily paid to Qualcommm, but will also force Qualcomm to cut royalties for other Korean firms," said an analyst at a local brokerage, who asked not to be named.
Qualcomm has been under fire from Korean handset manufacturers since last year for granting preferential treatment to Chinese mobile phone companies who were asked to pay lower royalty rates.
Under the most favorable royalty rates (MFRR) agreement in 1993, Korean handset makers are supposed to pay the lowest possible royalty rates to Qualcomm.
Currently, the U.S. technology firm collects 5.25 percent of local sales of handsets in royalties and 5.75 percent of exports from Korean manufacturers. The rates do not compare favorably with the Chinese rate of 2.65 percent royalties for domestic sales and 7 percent for exports.
"The unbalanced royalties make it difficult for Korean handset makers to make inroads into the Chinese market," the analyst said.
The new 1X chipset will undergo final testing for commercial mobile handsets serviced by KTF, the nation’s second largest wireless carrier, according to a Samsung Electronics official.
"We will produce a new mobile handset equipped with our own 1X chipset in October at the earliest," the official said.
Samsung Electronics is also in the process of developing a dual-band, dual-mode chipset, a key component for third-generation (3G) mobile phones based on wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) technology.
Dual-band requires a phone to be able to operate in GSM or CDMA networks, while dual-mode means it will work in the current network and the future 3G one.
On Tuesday, KT ICOM chief executive Cho Young-chu said the company is highly likely to use Samsung’s own dual-band, dual-mode (DBDM) chipset after the company launches the commercial operation of its 3G network next June.
"We will use Qualcomm’s DBDM chipset in a test-run of 3G service next April, but Samsung’s chipset is also possible after the commercial service begins," Cho said in a press meeting.
Qualcomm has licensed its essential CDMA patent portfolio to more than 100 telecommunications equipment manufacturers worldwide.
Korean mobile phone service operators and handset manufacturers had paid a cumulative total of $1.13 billion in royalties by the end of 2001, according to the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI). <<
- Eric - |
