I sure hope the financial analysts are right. At least two have said that Qualcomm’s 3G chips will power Apple’s next generation iPhone due this summer. Ashok Kumar, a longtime semiconductor analyst, also predicts the phone will finally be available on Verizon’s network.
This is good news for iPhone customers and would-be customers, as they now have a choice of wireless carriers. It’s also great news for Qualcomm for a few reasons: first because the newest iPhone is sure to be a huge hit, giving Qualcomm an enormous OEM sales channel. The sales derived from an Apple partnership will further line Qualcomm’s pockets, enabling the company to pour more resources into nascent efforts like smartbooks, tablets, e-readers, etc.
It’s the Microsoft model. Rake in cash from profitable franchises (i.e. 3G chips, or Windows and Office) to fund fledgling efforts.
The Apple rumor notwithstanding, Qualcomm has been seemingly everywhere for the past month: The two big kicks being Google’s Nexus One smartphone launch (the phone has a Snapdragon chip) and the smartbook buzz at CES driven in part by Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs’ first-ever CES keynote speech.
Since then, tech media have predicted a semiconductor smackdown between Qualcomm and Intel for supremacy in the next generation of mobile gadgets. Qualcomm certainly got a big endorsement from a Google product manager, who told Business Week that Snapdragon “represents some of the most advanced chip technology available today.”
Of course, Intel and others are not sitting still. Intel’s “Moorestown” chip for smartphones will hit the market this year, for example. But its success is far from assured. Unlike the PC industry, no one or two companies will own the mobile device market. It’s too innovative and dynamic for that. And consumers, unlike the business buyers that drove the PC market, aren’t loyal.
It’s great that Qualcomm is getting recognition and is generating headlines, but it’s probably not important that it become a household name. What matters is that Qualcomm executes flawlessly and continues to innovate with unique products.
If it does that, the mobile market is Qualcomm’s to lose.
Lisa
