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Technology Stocks : Qualcomm Incorporated (QCOM) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: mthomas who wrote (41149)	9/15/1999 8:39:00 AM
From: Boplicity	Respond to of 152472

Ericsson declines comment on Qualcomm mobile buy STOCKHOLM, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Swedish telecoms group Ericsson <LMEb.ST> on Wednesday declined to comment on whether it was interested in buying the mobile telephone division of California-based Qualcomm Inc <QCOM.O>, which is up for sale. However a company spokeswoman said it was not Ericsson's policy to buy mobile telephone companies. Qualcomm said late Tuesday that it hoped to sell its mobile telephone business by the end of the year to focus on developing its more lucrative wireless technology business. Ericsson was speculated to be a possible buyer. "We never comment on such matters," Ericsson information head Pia Gideon told Reuters. "We have never said that we will buy a mobile telephone company and we have not done this previously. Our strategy has been to buy high technology companies," Gideon said. Analysts say Ericsson would be a likely candidate for Qualcomm's mobile telephone unit because the U.S. company has a well-developed code division multiple access technology, known as CDMA, which is being deployed in new mobile networks. Ericsson is a relative latecomer to the CDMA market, with its first phone call not due out until next year. It is also struggling to boost flagging handset sales, which only account for about a fifth of its overall revenue. Ericsson purchased Qualcomm's infrastructure division earlier in 1999 in an effort to add narrow-band CDMA technology to its wireless portfolio. Ericsson shares were flat at 258 crowns in early trade Wednesday in a slightly negative market.