Nokia Lets More Chipmakers Join In
08/08/07 - 03:32 PM EDT
Alexei Oreskovic
According to Nokia, the company will cease development of parts of its own chipsets and increase its use of commercially available chips (although Nokia noted that it will continue to develop and license the modem technology used in cell phones).
Meanwhile, Nokia is tapping various chipmakers to supply the silicon at the heart of its various phones. ST Micro will provide a complete chipset for one of Nokia's most advanced handsets, based on the 3G standard. Broadcom will provide chips for midrange phones based on the Edge standard. And chips for some of Nokia's low-end GSM phones will come from Infineon Technologies(IFX Quote - Cramer on IFX - Stock Picks). Texas Instruments, Nokia's traditional baseband chip vendor, will continue to be a "broad scope supplier across all protocols," although TI doesn't appear to own a particular category all to itself. TI's stock was off 20 cents, or 0.6%, at $33.81 in recent trading Wednesday. "This is a pragmatic move in the face of an increasingly complex technology environment," Niklas Savander, executive vice president of Nokia technology platforms said in a statement. "Companies in this industry need to focus on areas where they can add value and partner with others where it makes sense," he said. Nokia's move couldn't have come as a total surprise to TI, which has acknowledged that the market is changing.
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