Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

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

To: Raglanroadie who wrote (63687)	5/15/2007 4:00:17 PM
From: engineer	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 196961

I really hope Nokia is putting all their eggs in teh smartphone basket. This one area they have done soooooooooooo poorly over the years that this might break the camels back. They are the King of Cheap. To venture outside this and try to capture the King of innovaiton, will be interesting at the very least. Especially since they outsource this to eveyrone and try not to do the heavy lifting.

To: Raglanroadie who wrote (63687)	5/15/2007 4:24:21 PM
From: slacker711	Respond to of 196961

I believe NOK's WCDMA phones have been more geared towards the higher end smart phones. If that is the case it seems to me you have plenty of room for mulitple chips and a larger battery. It is always a bit hard to compare chipsets. We dont have access to the high-level teardown information that we need to get a real apples to apples comparison. However, you are right that Nokia and Qualcomm have had different approaches to the early stages of the WCDMA/HSDPA market. In general, Nokia has relyed on a separate OMAP applications processor while Qualcomm has integrated their applications processor into the baseband. I think it is worth looking at the comparative state of the art for the two companies. Right now, I think the Samsung Ultra 700 and the Nokia 6120 classic represent two handsets going after the same market with at a somewhat similar feature set. Both of these handsets are rumored to be available late this quarter. Samsung Ultra U700 Nokia 6120 Classic Samsung U700 Nokia 6120 Network HSDPA2100 HSDPA850/2100 GSM 900/1800/1900 GSM 850/900/1800/1900 Dimensions 102.5 x 50 x 12.1mm 105 x 46 x 15mm Weight 93g 89g Display 2.2" QVGA 256,000 colors 2" QVGA 16 million colors Camera 3 Megapixel Autofocus 2 Megapixel Memory 20MB 35MB Storage MicroSD MicroSD Operating Sys Non-Smartphone Series 60 . I dont have pricing information on the U700 but the 6120 is supposed to be available for 260 Euros (~$350). I am fairly sure that the U700 will be priced close to that figure. As you can see, the overall size of the handsets are remarkably similar and while the Samsung handset has a few more multimedia features, the 6120 is a Series 60 handset that supports more bands. It is very hard to conclude that Nokia is having trouble producing integrated WCDMA handsets when you look at the 6120 classic. One thing to note though, I have seen some conflicting reports that this handset (as well as a few others in Nokia's line) may have a Freescale chipset. They seem to have become the widely speculated second source for 3G to Nokia (if confirmed, this is a big blow to Broadcom/Infineon/STM). Of course, these are still mid-tier handsets. It is possible that Nokia could have trouble producing low-end WCDMA handsets, but I honestly doubt it. Everything that I have seen points to the fact that Nokia has a similar level of integration as Qualcomm (baseband+single-chip RF+Power Management). After all of the failed predictions about the death of Nokia due to the Chinese, WCDMA, HSDPA, clamshells, or thinphones, I hesitate to add a new one....however, if you are looking for a place where Q can take the technical lead, it is clearly with their single-chip WCDMA/HSDPA solutions. Personally, I think these chips will provide the best chance of differentiation, but we wont see an impact until the 2nd half of '08. Q's competitors have been silent on the timing of their offerings and if Q can have the field to itself for a year or so, we might finally see the market share shifts that so many have predicted.....but then again, once burned, twice shy. Slacker