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

To: YlangYlangBreeze who wrote (90505)	12/19/2000 12:31:36 PM
From: cuemaster	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 152472

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Qualcomm Announcement Saws Sawtek Stock Dec 18, 2000 (Tech Web - CMP via COMTEX) -- Qualcomm on Monday announced a new radio-frequency (RF) chip technology that eliminates the need for surface acoustic wave (SAW) filters in handsets. Qualcomm (stock: QCOM) rolled out radioOne, a technology designed for use in code-division multiple access (CDMA) transceivers based on a zero intermediate frequency (ZIF), or a direct conversion, architecture. The company is the latest chipmaker to embrace ZIF in the RF IC market. Other chipmakers, including Analog Devices Inc. (stock: ADI), have also developed ZIF technology for their RF chip lines. Unlike a traditional handset, which converts RF signals to the baseband controller in multiple steps, ZIF technology converts incoming RF signals directly to or from the chipset. This direct conversion eliminates the need for intermediate-frequency (IF) SAW filters, thereby reducing cost of a system. Qualcomm's announcement had a major impact on Sawtek, one of the world's leading suppliers of SAW filters for handsets. The company's stock dropped 21.9 percent to just under $51 a share today. Sawtek Inc. (stock: SAWS) claimed the announcement will have little or no impact on the company. "It appears that the unusual trading activity in our stock today is attributed to a press release by Qualcomm issued today relating to a new technology," said Raymond A. Link, chief financial officer for Sawtek, Orlando, Fla. "Qualcomm, in its press release, stated that this new technology could eventually eliminate certain components, including IF SAW filters, in the intermediate frequency chain for CDMA phones," Link said. "Qualcomm further stated that it would not begin sampling this product until the fourth quarter of calendar 2001," he added. "As a result of this delayed product sampling, Sawtek believes the introduction of this new technology will have little or no impact on its revenues or profits for fiscal 2001." Qualcomm, though, said the ZIF technology will have a major impact on the market. "ZIF architecture has been the holy grail of many wireless communications standards," said Don Schrock, president of Qualcomm's CDMA Technologies Division in San Diego. Qualcomm's radioOne technology incorporates the frequency synthesis and passive elements used in converting baseband signals to and from RF. In addition to size and manufacturing cost benefits, radioOne radios will offer an estimated 20 percent improvement in talk times for CDMA handsets. The radioOne technology is expected to be incorporated in Qualcomm's third-generation chipsets, including cdma2000 and Wideband CDMA (W-CDMA), by the fourth quarter of 2001. http://www.techweb.com Copyright (C) 2000 CMP Media Inc.