Casio Deal Could Lead To CDMA Smartphones
By Jeremy Scott-Joynt
Casio, the Japanese computer and consumer products manufacturer, has acquired a license for CDMAOne phone technology in a move that could encourage the development of CDMA-based smartphones.
The Japanese company will pay Qualcomm, the technology's progenitor, a royalty for the CDMAOne, or IS-95, units it intends to build.
Casio is best known outside Japan for calculators and personal digital assistants, but within its home territory the company also builds mobile terminals for use with Japan's two indigenous cellular standards, personal digital cellular (PDC) and the cheap, short-range personal handyphone system (PHS).
But two Japanese operators, Ido Tsushin and DDI, are about to start up a nationwide CDMAOne network, and IS-95 is already the standard for digital networks in South Korea, with over 2 million subscribers. This combination - as well as other teething networks in Asia, not to mention the well-established IS-95 community in the US - offers Casio a rapidly growing market.
Moreover, Casio's proven skills in building handheld data devices and computers, especially for Microsoft's Windows CE operating system, makes it probable that the company will move towards integrating the phone with the computer, as Korea's Samsung has begun to do for its market. |
