Samsung and Intel may squeeze Qualcomm

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Samsung and Intel may squeeze Qualcomm

CDMA giant in dominant mobile chip position, but faces new Asian LTE venture as well as Intel's tablet processors

By CAROLINE GABRIEL

Published: 3 January, 2012

READ MORE: Qualcomm | Intel | Processor

Qualcomm started 2012 with its pole position in mobile chips strengthened, despite rising competition from the likes of Nvidia. However, it will face even greater challenges this year, and the first signs will be seen this month. First, Japanese operator NTT DoCoMo has confirmed its plan for a joint venture in mobile silicon with five electronics firms, most importantly giving Samsung a vehicle to fight against Qualcomm. And at next week's Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Intel will showcase its most recent Atom processors, and its most credible attempt so far to eat into Qualcomm's market.

DoCoMo's group includes Fujitsu, Fujitsu Semiconductor, NEC, Panasonic Mobile Communications and Samsung Electronics. They will create a fabless joint venture by the end of March 2012, to develop and sell semiconductors for mobile devices, bringing together the members' experience and facilities in ASIC design and fo¬undry manufacturing.

The main focus will be on LTE and LTE-Advanced modems and modem/processor combinations. DoCoMo, which has unmatched control over - and investment in - its handset supply chain, will have first access to the resulting technologies, but they will be marketed globally, it insisted. The carrier will invest ¥450m ($5.8m) in the new subsidiary, to be called Communication Platform Planning (CPP) and headed by CEO Mitsunobu Komori, concurrently a DoCoMo CTO.

One objective, especially for Samsung, will be to compete with Qualcomm, which currently dominates the LTE baseband market. Japanese reports claim that the DoCoMo unit has even engaged in talks with Apple, which is expected to debut an LTE iPhone later this year - though it is distancing itself from key supplier Samsung amid multiple legal battles, and has turned to Qualcomm for basebands since launching CDMA models. Samsung COO Lee Jae-Yong told reporters in October that he had met with Apple CEO Tim Cook to discuss supplying Apple with "even better parts" after the firms' current contract ends later this year.

Meanwhile, as Qualcomm expands into markets beyond the handset, it will increasingly have to take Intel seriously as a rival. Both firms will set out their battle plans at CES, with Intel majoring on its new Clover Trail silicon, which will power its bid to dominate Windows 8 tablets when they emerge later this year - even though W8 will also support ARM-based processors.

Clover Trail, an Atom chip, is a follow-up for Medfield which is due in the second quarter as Intel's first realistic bid for the smartphone sector. It will debut around the same time - probably in Q3 - as W8 tablets, targeting dual-core models while Medfield will focus on single-core units and phones. Intel is expected to show off Clover Trail-based prototype W8 slates at CES to attract OEM support, with Acer and Lenovo reported to be the first adopters. Samsung is also using Intel for its first W8 tablet, rather than an ARM design - perhaps its own Exynos - as previously expected, said CNet.

After Medfield and Clover Trail, Intel will chase ARM's famous power efficiency further with Silvermont, a completely redesigned Atom chip due in 2013. Also next year, we will see Haswell, bringing new low power levels to non-Atom lines and targeting a mainstream Intel chip at ultrabooks, hybrids and tablets.