News & Analysis
Comment
yjamal2k1
Baseband business is very competitive, hence margin pressure is bound to happen, ...
Yoshida in China: Spreadtrum girds for margin woes
Junko Yoshida
11/13/2012 10:45 AM EST
China Mobile, Spreadtrum's role
3. The rise of entry-level smartphones
The entry-level smartphone market segment is emerging as “a strong catalyst” for large numbers of China Mobile subscribers “to switch from their older 2.5G handsets to TD-SCDMA smartphones for the next several years,” Li predicted.
4. What about EDGE smartphones?
During Q3, Spreadtrum saw an increase in demand for its EDGE smartphone chip set. But demand for EDGE smartphones is not necessarily in China, observed Li. It “is coming from the overseas handset market where 3G networks aren't yet fully deployed," adding, “Early EDGE smartphone demand is now shifting to low-cost TD-SCDMA.”
5. Open market strategy
China Mobile is now instituting a new policy calling for an "open market," Li said. The operator expects handset distribution through open-market channels to increase from a small number this year to 50 percent in 2013.
Spreadtrum’s CEO believes “this will make low-end smartphones broadly available in diverse retail channels where Chinese consumers buy mobile handsets.”
6. China Mobile’s LTE plan
Spreadtrum is expecting a surge in Chinese consumer demand for LTE to hit in 2014. Commercial deployment of TD-SCDMA is expected to be hampered by limited network coverage. Spreadtrum qualified a single-chip TD-LTE/TD-SCDMA and EDGE modem with China Mobile earlier this year. That version doesn't support WCDMA.
In 2013, Spreadtrum hopes to launch a single-chip LTE modem supporting TD-LTE, SCD-LTE, TD-SCDMA, WCDMA and EDGE. China Mobile is requiring that all TD flavors be supported in LTE modems.
7. Spreadtrum beyond TD-SCDMA
Spreadtrum is believed to hold more than 50 percent of the TD-SCDMA smartphone market. However, it faces challenges as it seeks to expand its global market share. The keys to Spreadtrum’s next leap are the success of its pending WCDMA products and broader acceptance of its smartphone platform that includes an integrated modem/apps processor.
Li acknowledges that Spreadtrum's WCDMA products have yet to catch on. "We are going to start the sampling in Q1 [2013] and I think Q2, no later than Q3, I hope, we’re going to start shipping WCDMA smartphones.”
Related stories:
3. The rise of entry-level smartphones
The entry-level smartphone market segment is emerging as “a strong catalyst” for large numbers of China Mobile subscribers “to switch from their older 2.5G handsets to TD-SCDMA smartphones for the next several years,” Li predicted.
4. What about EDGE smartphones?
During Q3, Spreadtrum saw an increase in demand for its EDGE smartphone chip set. But demand for EDGE smartphones is not necessarily in China, observed Li. It “is coming from the overseas handset market where 3G networks aren't yet fully deployed," adding, “Early EDGE smartphone demand is now shifting to low-cost TD-SCDMA.”
5. Open market strategy
China Mobile is now instituting a new policy calling for an "open market," Li said. The operator expects handset distribution through open-market channels to increase from a small number this year to 50 percent in 2013.
Spreadtrum’s CEO believes “this will make low-end smartphones broadly available in diverse retail channels where Chinese consumers buy mobile handsets.”
6. China Mobile’s LTE plan
Spreadtrum is expecting a surge in Chinese consumer demand for LTE to hit in 2014. Commercial deployment of TD-SCDMA is expected to be hampered by limited network coverage. Spreadtrum qualified a single-chip TD-LTE/TD-SCDMA and EDGE modem with China Mobile earlier this year. That version doesn't support WCDMA.
In 2013, Spreadtrum hopes to launch a single-chip LTE modem supporting TD-LTE, SCD-LTE, TD-SCDMA, WCDMA and EDGE. China Mobile is requiring that all TD flavors be supported in LTE modems.
7. Spreadtrum beyond TD-SCDMA
Spreadtrum is believed to hold more than 50 percent of the TD-SCDMA smartphone market. However, it faces challenges as it seeks to expand its global market share. The keys to Spreadtrum’s next leap are the success of its pending WCDMA products and broader acceptance of its smartphone platform that includes an integrated modem/apps processor.
Li acknowledges that Spreadtrum's WCDMA products have yet to catch on. "We are going to start the sampling in Q1 [2013] and I think Q2, no later than Q3, I hope, we’re going to start shipping WCDMA smartphones.”
Related stories:
|
|
|
|
|
Navigate to related information
yjamal2k1
11/14/2012 12:01 AM EST
Baseband business is very competitive, hence margin pressure is bound to happen, this was the main reason TI shifted to this business. In TD, Marvell, Mediatek and Qualcomm are major competitors for Spreadtrum.
Sign in to Reply