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Technology Stocks : Qualcomm Moderated Thread - please read rules before posting -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?


To: q1000 who wrote (25032)7/28/2002 4:58:16 PM
From: q1000  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 196444
 
Qualcomm EPS Conference Call, Part II - Tony Thornley

Tony Thornley
QSI


Regarding QSI, there were significant losses in the June quarter. The strategic investments have been an important factor in creating new markets for Qualcomm products, technology and services. However, despite significant accounting losses this quarter relating to Leap and also Vesper losses almost a year ago, we expect a reasonable financial return over time from the strategic investments. We are, however, taking a cautious approach to any new commitments to financing, given the market circumstances.

CDMA Markets

The results for the June quarter and the orders received for the September quarter confirm to us the 80-85 million estimate for calendar 2002 we have made in the past. I know that many of you have lower estimates but we believe that the replacement sales are higher than the consensus.

South Korea

In the last conference call in April, we discussed the subsidy ban in South Korea. Our view at that time was that the ban was not likely to stall the market as the previous subsidy ban had two years ago. As it turned out, the ban did impact the month of April but the market rebounded in May and continues to be quite strong. The key drivers for South Korea are 1x, color screen phones and data applications, with the notable success of BREW for KT Freetel. At the current rate, 50% of Korean subscribers will be on 1x networks by end of the year. We believe the next driver for sales will be camera phones and new services for the new data rates for 1xEV-DO.

North America

Verizon has launched its 1x Express Network in most major markets in the US and expects to launch all remaining markets by the end of this year. Verizon has also launched BREW. Sprint plans to launch its nationwide 1x network this summer and has also launched its mobile virtual network with Virgin, with plans for nationwide service by the end of this month. Alltel plans to launch its 1x network soon and U.S. Cellular plans to convert its former TDMA markets to 1x later this year. Two Canadian carriers, Bell Mobility and Telus, have launched commercial 1x networks. The North America market remains good despite some disappointing net add numbers for some carriers in the June quarter. The replacement market, driven by share and new phone models, is translating into strong growth in demand for our chips.

China Unicom

China Unicom continues to grow its subscribers and by the end of June had reached 936,000. However, this is only a part of the total Unicom network. Extrapolating by overall pops covered would translate into approximately 1.4 million total subscribers. Unicom has made steady progress in improving its handset supply and optimizing its IS95A network. Most recently special promotions with lower prices on phones have been appearing in the market. We are providing substantial support to Unicom to increase the differentiation of their service offering, particularly when they upgrade to 1x. 1x trials systems are operational now in 7 cities, with others expected shortly to upgrade the existing cdmaOne network. We believe that our prior subscriber estimate of 3 to 4 million for the calendar year is quite achievable.

India

In India, progress on limited mobility proceeds quite satisfactorily. Reliance, our partner in India, plans a soft launch of its network this year. We expect additional contracts, including infrastructure, to be announced, with network build-out to commence this summer. Reliance continues to aim for very aggressive growth over the next 3 years. Other operators in India are also expanding their networks. We expect to see India as a substantial growth market in 2003 year.

Southeast Asia

Several 1x deployments are underway, including Viet Nam, New Zealand, Thailand and Indonesia. Just recently, Telecom NZ announced the commercial start of its 1x services under the brand name, JetStream.

Latin America

Regarding the Pegaso sale [Mexico], 2 out of the 3 required approvals have already been received and we expect the 3rd relatively soon. Under the agreement, the interim secured financing provided by Qualcomm is to be repaid in full 30 days after the transaction closes. Our secured debt to Pegaso, exclusive of this interim secured financing, will be reduced in excess of $200 million as a result of cash payments which we expect to receive approximately 60 days after the transaction closes. Telefonica is recognized as one of the world’s leading wireless operators and has considerable strength and operations expertise behind Pegaso to achieve a successful nationwide CDMA network in Mexico.

For the Latin and South American region, in particular, we continue to drive the low-cost CDMA handset for these regions because we believe that the sub-$100 handset is crucial to restart growth in those markets hardest hit by the economic downturn.

Nortel won a contract award to overlay BellSouth’s existing TDMA network in Ecuador for complete 1x solution. BellSouth joins Telesp and Telefonica as leading 3G CDMA mobile operators in South America.

In Brazil, the fixed and mobile market is converging, which opens up new opportunities for Vesper. We expect that Vesper will have the regulatory ability to acquire PCS mobility licenses later this year. In the June quarter, Vesper made progress in refining its customer base, exchanging lower paying subscribers for higher ARPU prepaid customers. At the end of June, Vesper had approximately 450,000 subscribers and Vesper portable continues to sell well. As additional retail points of presence are added in the Vesper network, we expect to see monthly sales totals for this product to increase. Vesper expects subscriber growth to resume in subsequent quarters as well as continued improvement in EBITDA and net income.

Momentum is building in all markets, perhaps with the exception of Latin America, today. I think this is reflected in our outlook for the September quarter which Bill will talk about a little later.

We continue to focus on cost control and on growing our businesses. There are very many positive signs from all areas of our business that make us quite optimistic about the future for Qualcomm and CDMA operators.



To: q1000 who wrote (25032)7/28/2002 6:25:34 PM
From: Neeka  Read Replies (3) | Respond to of 196444
 
Thank you for posting. Your excellent notes helped me to catch up without having to wade through a lot of posts. I was out of town all last week and didn't have access to a phone let alone a computer.

I have a technical question for this board.

I have been experiencing an annoying echo when I use my phone lately. I can literally hear myself repeating my conversation. This has happened to me on more than one cell phone (both Samsung phones BTW) and I was wondering if someone could explain what is happening, and how I might avoid this? It doesn't seem to matter where I am when I make the calls. One of the phones is about 4 years old and the other one is new. (SCH-N150)

TIA

M