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

To: masa who wrote (42271)	9/15/2004 7:39:18 PM
From: Eric L	Respond to of 197031

The Samsung Challenge ... masa, << Samsung failed to bring their low end CDMA chips to Reliance because of interoperability issues with Lucent and Nortel infra. Do you really think they gave up? Not likely. They will solve the problems (probably small), and they will be back. ... they are one of the strongest players in semiconductor field in the world. It is in fact highly unlikely they will abandon this 4 year effort, and one only need to listen to their CCs or look at the IR FAQ on their website to confirm that: Q1. CHIP DEVELOPMENT (20 April, 2004) A1. The Company plans to strategically develop and utilize its own telecommunication chips depending on the market situation. · The Company has developed a CDMA chip and begun to use it in products. It will continue to develop and utilize its own chip in an effort to enhance its competitive edge. · The Company has been developing the GSM chip and formed strategic partnerships with chipset vendors. In addition to working on the 1xRTT protocol stack they are working on a CDMA2000 Release C chipset and recently showed a 1xEV-DV handset with their own chipset, and they are also working on UMTS and DBDM. Samsung is now number 2 to Intel in semiconductors and they have the ambition to be number one. That's a pretty big stretch goal but this company can't be underestimated. They have talent, patience, partnerships, resources, deep pockets, and intestinal fortitude. As strong as they are in memory, however, they are week in logic, and this is the area they must improve in to narrow the very large gap between themselves an Intel. Non-memory is only 20% of their semiconductor sales, which in turn was 29% of their overall sales in 2003: Although Samsung has been nearly unstoppable in memory, its attempts to diversify into other chip markets have been disappointing. In 2001 Samsung officials were predicting that the company's non-memory chip sales would grow from about $2 billion to $5 billion by 2005. As of last year, however, the non-memory "system LSI" business was stalled at about $2.2 billion, according to Gartner Dataquest, and about half of those sales came from LCD driver chips, primarily for Samsung's own booming display business. Samsung's system LSI business uses Qualcomm technology to make CDMA cell phone chip sets but is allowed to sell them only to its own handset business. Other non-memory sales are divided between ASICs (a $340 million business last year, according to iSuppli), smart cards, consumer electronics chips, image sensors and processors, and chips for mobile devices. Among its notable design wins, Samsung has supplied ARM-based applications processors for some of HP's iPAQ pocket computers. reed-electronics.com There isn't much doubt in my mind that they will continue to persevere in there wireless IC initiatives, and eventually enjoy success. I look for them partnering and possibly acquiring a VIA, or an EoNex, but I don't see them cashing in their chips. Best, - Eric -

To: masa who wrote (42271)	10/22/2004 10:32:20 AM
From: Eric L	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 197031

India: Samsung 1xRTT Chipsets << Just an example: Samsung failed to bring their low end CDMA chips to Reliance because of interoperability issues with Lucent and Nortel infra. Do you really think they gave up? Not likely. They will solve the problems (propably small), and they will be back. >> Quicker than anticipated? >> Samsung’s Low-price Strategy in India Seong-ju Lee Telecoms Korea Friday, 22 October 2004 telecomskorea.com Samsung Electronics decided to resume the sales of handsets featuring CDMA chipset developed on its own while cutting handset prices drastically in order to strengthen its presence in India. A high-ranking official of Samsung said Friday, "It’s better to sell handset with our cdma chipset to lower the prices in the Indian market." Samsung once planned to supply its chipset to Reliance Infocomm, an Indian mobile carrier, however, it had to choose Qualcomm chip as Samsung chip wasn’t compatible with Indian system and Qualcomm offered preferential condition. Another strategy for the Indian market is price. In fact, Samsung handsets are one of the most expensive handsets with ASP of $178 in Q3. However, Samsung will lower handset prices by more than 60% to $100 per handset in the market. Samsung reaffirmed its position in the Q3 conference call on October 15. Samsung said that its strategy for Indian market doesn’t indicate strategic change but “exception” saying that it would increase market share with high-end products in other markets. Meanwhile, Indian mobile subscribers are expected to reach 45m at the end of October, adding additional 10m for three years to come. - Eric -