Infineon Ships 100 Million Chips for Low-Cost Mobile Phones

Infineon Technologies says that it has shipped its 100 millionth low-cost mobile phone chipsets. The X-GOLD101 (E-GOLDvoice) mobile communications chip is the second generation of Infineon's integrated baseband chips for GSM/GPRS.

Infineon is also unveiling its third-generation ultra-low-cost (ULC) mobile communications chip, the new X-GOLD110. Manufactured with a structure size of 65 nanometers, the chip lowers system costs (bill-of-material) for mobile phone manufacturers by 20 percent compared to its predecessor. The X-GOLD110 is a ULC chip that includes an FM radio receiver in addition to a full range of telephony functionalities.

"Our sales figures in the ULC segment are a testament to the success of our highly integrated solution," says Prof. Hermann Eul, member of the board and responsible for Technology, Sales and Marketing at Infineon Technologies AG. "The X-GOLD101 chip combines a variety of basic mobile communications components, including a baseband processor, transceiver, power management and memory. It packs a phone onto a single chip with an area the size of a finger nail."

Major mobile handset makers are the main customers for Infineon's ULC solutions, but these chips also enable smaller vendors in new markets like China and India to produce mobile phones quickly and inexpensively. With these components, Infineon shortens manufacturers' development cycles from a year to just three or four months and further reduces the number of electronic components in a simple mobile phone from over 200 to fewer than 50.

Posted to the site on 20th January 2009