- US-based chipmaker Qualcomm plans to launch a memory chip based on China's TD-LTE (Time Division-Long Term Evolution), a TDD (Time Division Duplex) version of LTE in 2010, with an aim to grow its presence in the Chinese market, Dow Jones reported on November 17. The chip - to be compatible with all 3G standards, including TD-SCDMA (TD-Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access), WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access), and CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) - is expected to help Qualcomm boost its revenue in China. At present, China accounts for around 23% of Qualcomm's total revenue, according to the same source. Qualcomm also is projected to enhance its R&D operations and client services business in the Asia-Pacific region in a bid to meet burgeoning 3G phone demand in China. Aside from China Mobile, Qualcomm also supplies chips to China Mobile for CDMA phones and China Unicom for WCDMA phones. Meanwhile, Qualcomm's rivals, including US-based Marvell and Taiwan-based MediaTek, already sell TD-SCDMA chips in China.

 

China Mobile also confirmed that the company has begun trial running a small-scale network based on TD-LTE and plans to launch a trial commercial TD-SCDMA network during the 2010 World Expo, to be opened in Shanghai on May 1, 2010, the SinoCast Daily Business Beat News reported on November 19, citing China Mobile's chairman, Wang Jianzhou. China Mobile expects the network coverage to cover an area of 5.28 square kilometers eventually. In addition, China Mobile reportedly has selected Huawei, Motorola, and Alcatel-Lucent as suppliers for the TD-LTE trial commercial network, according again to the SinoCast Daily Business Beat News. Further details, however, were not yet disclosed.