Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Tuesday, Feb 21, 2006
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Tuesday, Feb 21, 2006 |
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Info-Tech
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Telecommunications Qualcomm to launch single chip solution — CDMA handsets at different price points possible Our Bureau
New Delhi , Feb. 20 BETTING on the success of the to-be-launched single chip handsets, US technology major Qualcomm is expecting CDMA handset sales numbers in India to match that of GSM-based handset sales numbers this year. This is despite the fact that the GSM-based operators are adding more than 3 million new users per month compared to just over a million new subscribers by CDMA players. Mr Kanwalinder Singh, President, India & SAARC, Qualcomm Inc, told Business Line that already analysts had indicated that CDMA handsets account for 48 per cent of the new handsets sales in the country. "Our strategy has been to offer a different solution to what our competitors have. Even a CDMA low-end handsets offer more features compared to the low-end phone being offered by a GSM manufacturer. The other thing we are doing is to shorten the time it takes to develop a product and making it ready for the market from 6 months at present to 6 weeks," said Mr Singh. More than 50 per cent of the CDMA handsets sold in the Indian market is prices below $50 (Rs 2,217). Qualcomm holds the global patent for CDMA-based products and solutions. Manufacturers such as LG, Samsung and BenQ have an agreement with Qualcomm to develop CDMA handsets. The company has two research and development centres in the country with about 300 employees. Qualcomm is planning to ramp it up by adding a few hundred more this year. On the single chip solution based handsets, Mr Singh said that India would be one of the first markets where the product would be launched. "We hope to sample the handset in March and within 6 to 9 months after that, we should be in a position to launch the product," said Mr Singh. Qualcomm's single chip solution offers the handset manufacturer the flexibility to use the same chip to develop handsets at different price points. "The single chip solution will enable manufacturers to develop handsets that could be priced sub $50 and also those handsets that could be between the $60-100 range. It also allows more data capabilities and functionality at the entry level," said Mr Singh. Researchers at Qualcomm's Indian centres have also contributed to developing this single chip solution.
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