Qualcomm Eases Into Partnership With GSM Handset Maker

With GSM winning the biggest share of the worldwide mobile market, one might think that Qualcomm, the main proponent in the CDMA camp, would be at a loss. However, since they own lots of IP rights to the GSM 3G evolution W-CDMA technology, they're crying all the way to the bank. Also, as the chipmaker with the most CDMA experience, they are well positioned to win new business in the previously verboten GSM camp. Case in point is the deal announced today where Germany's Siemens will use Qualcomm MSM chips in it's upcoming W-CDMA handsets. Other winners in the losing CDMA side are likely to include Korean phone or chipmakers like Samsung. By the way, remember a few weeks ago when we covered the surprising inclusion of MSFT's media technology in Qualcomm chips? Guess who will be sliding into Siemens phones through the backdoor...

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