Chinese telecom operator China Unicom recently announced that it has signed a cooperation agreement with Taiwanese chipmaker VIA Technologies. According to the agreement, China Unicom will procure CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) mobile phone chips from VIA, which agrees to offer chips at lower prices than Qualcomm, Taiwan's Economic Daily reported.

In a separate statement, China Unicom announced its strategic alliance with Chinese mobile phone maker Dopod. Under the alliance, the two companies will jointly launch value-line CDMA mobile phones using mobile phone chips provided by VIA Telecom, a subsidiary under VIA Technologies.

On December 18, Dopod debuted a new line of CDMA phones under the new brand name Vivie, with price tags ranging from 320 RMB (US$43.5; US$1 = 7.4 RMB) to 350 RMB (US$47.5). According to Taiwan's Commercial Times, chipsets used in the Vivie line are provided by VIA Telecom, as part of the aforementioned cooperation.