NTT DoCoMo, Samsung, Panasonic, Fujitsu and NEC team up to take on Qualcomm
When it comes to manufacturing chips for smartphones and tablets, Qualcomm has been leading the mobile industry for awhile. In order to have the resources to compete with the giant, several smaller companies would need to combine their efforts . Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo has teamed up with Samsung, Panasonic, NEC, Fujitsu Limited and Fujitsu Semiconductor to create a high-powered fabless joint venture for the purpose of developing “feature-rich, small-size, low-power-consumption semiconductor products equipped with modem functionality.”
According to the press release announcing the partnership, all six companies will come together to develop LTE and LTE-Advanced communication solutions that will be sold globally. Although not in the press release, one of the main reasons for the joint venture is to decrease dependency on Qualcomm for mobile devices. If all goes according to plan, the partnership will be finalized by March, 2012.
Once the details are finished being worked out, DoCoMo will invest $5.8 million in wholly owned subsidiary known as Communication Platform Planning. CPP will be headed by DoCoMo CEO Mitsunobu Komori.
The advantages of a partnership like this may not be immediately apparent to consumers. But eventually, it should help foster and speed up innovation, along with drive down chip prices. This will in turn drive down device prices. The semiconductor business is going to get interesting this coming year, and we’ll certainly be keeping an eye on what NTT DoCoMo’s super team can do.
Via: Android and Me
