Qualcomm Need To Sign Large Customer To Hit W-CDMA Target

LONDON -(Dow Jones)- Qualcomm Inc., the wireless semi-conductor technology developer, Thursday said it needs to sign up a large mobile-phone manufacturer if it is to hit its aggressive market-share targets for Wideband-CDMA, the standard technology used for third-generation, or 3G, handsets.

In an interview with Dow Jones Newswires, Qualcomm President Steve Altman said Qualcomm is targeting 50% market share in W-CDMA technology but admitted that is a challenging aim.

"It will be difficult. There's a lot of competition," he said.

IDC research pointed to Qualcomm having a 6.9% market share in W-CDMA in 2004.

Altman said it will gain market share as its customers begin to ramp up handset volumes. He said Vodafone Group PLC (VOD) is launching six 3G handsets based on Qualcomm technology, so as Vodafone's market share grows, so will Qualcomm's.

But he said Qualcomm will need to sign up another tier-one handset manufacturer to hit its aggressive market-share target. It already counts Samsung, LG Electronics and some Chinese manufacturers amongst its customers.

Company Web site: http://www.qualcomm.com

-By Nic Fildes, Dow Jones Newswires; 44-20-7842-9264; nicolas.fildes@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires "

Posted to the site on 10th November 2005