Qualcomm claims CDMA not inherently expensive

AT THE RECENT 3GSM SHOW Jeff Belk, senior VP for marketing with Qualcomm derided the conventional view that as the number two global air interface, CDMA based products would always cost more than GSM based offerings. He claimed, "It's part of the myth of conventional wisdom about economies of scale."

Belk pointed to GPS devices shipping in Japan with low volume runs of around 0.5 million units, which are still profitable for the manufacturer. He argues that with many common components such as LCD screens, batteries and casings being adaptable to multiple technologies, it is possible to produce lower cost phones as well as applications that can be published across multiple platforms.

On the Qualcomm stand, live calls on a multimode GSM/W-CDMA Sanyo handset over Nortel's test 3G network were also featured. As Belk pointed out, "3G can't be faked. Today's 3G technology delivers products and services that consumers enjoy and operators can depend on to drive profit and performance." µ

L'INQS
www.qualcomm.com