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DoCoMo, Intel to co-develop chips for 3G handsets
Tokyo, Nov 15: Japan`s top wireless carrier, NTT DoCoMo Inc, said on Saturday it would cooperate with US chip giant Intel Corp to develop advanced semiconductors for its third-generation (3G) cellphone handsets.
Tokyo, Nov 15: Japan's top wireless carrier, NTT DoCoMo Inc, said on Saturday it would cooperate with US chip giant Intel Corp to develop advanced semiconductors for its third-generation (3G) cellphone handsets.
"It is true that we are going to co-develop chips for 3G phones," a DoCoMo spokesman said.
"But it is ultimately handset makers like NEC and Matsushita that pick chips for their handsets. We are just going to offer better options for them."
He declined to elaborate, but the Nihon Keizai Shimbun business daily said they aim to develop energy-efficient, low cost chips capable of carrying out multiple tasks including data communication and image processing within a few years.
The agreement is expected to give DoCoMo's high-speed 3G service a much-needed competitive edge, and Intel an opportunity to boost its market share in the cellphone handset market.
DoCoMo's 3G service had until recently met sluggish user uptake due to pricey handsets and short battery life.
Although the battery duration has been extended and cellphone prices have fallen in recent months, they still compare unfavorably against dominant 2G handsets.
Its two-year old 3G service, based on W-CDMA technology, has 1.3 million users, dwarfed by 10.7 million subscribers at rival KDDI Corp, which offers its 3G service on a different technological format.
Japanese mobile phone operators are looking to 3G services, which are more suitable for transmitting 'rich content' such as photos and video clips than 2G services, as the next earnings driver as the domestic market saturates.
Intel is the world's largest chip maker but lags behind Texas Instruments Inc in semiconductors for cellphones.
DoCoMo and Intel will also cooperate in developing technology for the fourth generation service, which is expected to become commercially available as early as 2010 and offer transmission speeds as fast as optic-fiber networks, the newspaper said. Bureau Report
"It is true that we are going to co-develop chips for 3G phones," a DoCoMo spokesman said.
"But it is ultimately handset makers like NEC and Matsushita that pick chips for their handsets. We are just going to offer better options for them."
He declined to elaborate, but the Nihon Keizai Shimbun business daily said they aim to develop energy-efficient, low cost chips capable of carrying out multiple tasks including data communication and image processing within a few years.
The agreement is expected to give DoCoMo's high-speed 3G service a much-needed competitive edge, and Intel an opportunity to boost its market share in the cellphone handset market.
DoCoMo's 3G service had until recently met sluggish user uptake due to pricey handsets and short battery life.
Although the battery duration has been extended and cellphone prices have fallen in recent months, they still compare unfavorably against dominant 2G handsets.
Its two-year old 3G service, based on W-CDMA technology, has 1.3 million users, dwarfed by 10.7 million subscribers at rival KDDI Corp, which offers its 3G service on a different technological format.
Japanese mobile phone operators are looking to 3G services, which are more suitable for transmitting 'rich content' such as photos and video clips than 2G services, as the next earnings driver as the domestic market saturates.
Intel is the world's largest chip maker but lags behind Texas Instruments Inc in semiconductors for cellphones.
DoCoMo and Intel will also cooperate in developing technology for the fourth generation service, which is expected to become commercially available as early as 2010 and offer transmission speeds as fast as optic-fiber networks, the newspaper said. Bureau Report