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Qualcomm’s SoC business future is questioned first time
Among the hits for simple ‘Qualcomm’ search between April 25 and 30 you will first time find headlines such as:
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While such headlines are in minority by far and had been market balanced by Qualcomm’s media wide Snapdragon 800 communication (“Snapdragon 800 to enter mass production in late May”) we are witnessing first time that Qualcomm’s SoC future had been questioned for very first time. So it is worth to examine this abrupt change in a little more detail than the articles behind those worries:
First of all China: Entry-level dual core IPS WVGA (480×800) smartphones $65+ now, quad-core $70+ in June [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, April 29, 2013] behind of which there is a very said turn of events from Qualcomm’s point of view that:
Qualcomm recently quoted its quad-core solutions at less than US$10, slightly cheaper than MediaTek’s offerings, the sources indicated. Meanwhile, Spreadtrum has lowered its quad-core processor prices to similar levels. Both firms are trying to gain market share through aggressive pricing, the sources said.
That is Qualcomm has no other way against its market dominant entry-level rival MediaTek as start an outright price competition. In fact it is an even bigger problem as its hastily reworked new SoC product line setup:
was meant to be a very broad offensive move as it was noted in Qualcomm moving ahead of Allwinner et al. in CPU and GPU while trying to catch up with Allwinner in Ultra HD [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, Jan 12 -Feb 27, 2013]
Even more, in China: Entry-level dual core IPS WVGA (480×800) smartphones $65+ now, quad-core $70+ in June [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, April 29, 2013] we already had the following slide from yet another Chinese rival Spreadtrum:
So while Qualcomm is trying to undercut MediaTek prices in the quad-core entry-level SoC segment its another rival had been pushed to do the same, and now Qualcomm has another very potent rival, already much better established in the entry-level segment than Qualcomm, even outside China as was shown by Temporary Nokia setback in India [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, April 28, 2013]. Should Qualcomm drop its quad-core entry level price further? Hardly, as those $10 SoC prices are at the very bottom from the point of view of deterring additional entry-level quad-core rivals like Allwinner to enter that segment at large.
The competition between these three parties in terms of the entry level functionality looks like as follows (availability data is suggesting Q3 2013 entry level smartphone devices with extremely high volume production from Tier 1 international vendors down to a large number of white-box Chinese vendors):
|
MediaTek |
Qualcomm |
Spreadtrum |
|
|
Product |
MT6582 |
MSM8225Q, MSM8625Q |
SCXXXX |
|
Availability |
Q3 2013 volume |
Q1 2013 sample |
Q2 2013 sample |
|
Modem |
TD-SCDMA/W-CDMA/ TD + W |
CDMA multimode / UMTS modem options |
TD-SCDMA/W-CDMA/ TD + W |
|
Integrated App processor |
Quad Cortex-A7 |
Quad Cortex-A5 |
Quad Cortex-A7 |
|
Speed |
1.x GHz |
1.4 GHz |
1.x GHz |
|
GPU |
ARM Mali 400 |
Adreno 203 |
ARM Mali-400MP2 likely |
Block diagrams of the MT6572 entry level SoC from MediaTek, the quad-core MT6582 will differ from that only in the number of cores:
From: Mediatek “Wu Song” [MT6572] uphill [product], against the Spreadtrum “Tiger” [SC8825] / 联发科武松上山，展讯猛虎迎战 [52RD, March 8, 2013]
and
from 28-nanometer dual-core MT6572 WCDMA version is first to debut / 28纳米双核MT6572临近 WCDMA版本率先登场 [MTK手机网/MTK Mobile Phone Network, March 23, 2013] based on which a brief English report was the Mediatek MT6572 Chipset Details [Quazmo, April 6, 2013]
Meanwhile the first MT6572-based products are already launched:
MTK6572 mobile phone, Sunspan [天迈] D18/D28X first appearance [China Unlocked Phone Review, April 26, 2013] which is the rough English translation (therefore I made some manual edits to it) of MTK6572手机来了 天迈D18/D28X率先亮相 [MTK手机网/MTK Mobile Phone Network, April 26, 2013] article
MediaTek MT6572 dual-core processor was adopted some time ago by the majority of mobile solution providers. Informed sources said MT6572 began mass production, in addition to the dual-core MT6572, quad-core chip MT6582 coming soon. There is no quad-core version of the specific information of MT6582 chip, but to guess from the naming of the quad-core chip may be rumors it is MT6572 quad core version .
Description of MT6572
MediaTek MTK/MT6572 is a low-power highly integrated single-chip phone processor. The chip is based on Cortex-A7 architecture, using the 28-nanometer process. a single core’s clocked at 1.xGHz, it also has built-in Mali-400MP graphics processor, support for TD-SCDMA, WCDMA and EDGE 2.75G network, integrated 4-in-1 wireless chip. In addition to that it has been listed dual-core and quad-core chip versions. The MT6572 product line also has speed and price advantages. It is learned that old Spreadtrum customers, including WingTech (闻泰) etc. will be launching MTK6572 products, but the end product equipped with MT6572 chip will be officially listed in May.
T-SMART D28X/D26X
T-Smart Sunspan Communication, operating in the field of TD for many years and in good cooperation with China Mobile and other operators, signed a 600,000 full year supply agreement with D.Phone [who claims to be China’s largest retailer of mobile phones and accessories, with over 1300 stores, more than 800 of which are directly owned stores, see its TMall store for current offerings]. In this year’s upcoming new machine, Sunspan D28X/D26X and D18/D96X, several new machines will be using MTK6572 program, the listing of these models has been formed, will soon be listed.
Sunspan D28X/D26X
The two Sunspan D28X/D26X machines have the same appearance. Body size is 132 * 68 * 10.5 mm, which is equipped with MTK6572 dual-core processor, clock frequency is 1GHz, the screen size is 4.5 inches with 5MP camera, and running Android 4.2 version of the system. Another standard capacity of 1600 mAh battery, built-in commonly used sensor. The D28X/D26X both support different network standards, the D28X will provide the China Mobile’s customized one, i.e. can support the TD-SCDMA network, while the D26X has the Unicom [W-CDMA] version.
T-SMART D18/D96X
In addition to the Sunspan D28X/D26X, there are also new D18/D96X machines which to be powered by the MTK6572 dual-core processor. The D18/D96X models also differ in supported networks. D18 is the China Mobile version and D96X is the Unicom version. In addition to that the D18 will run Android 4.2 system, equipped with a 2MP camera, while the the D96X using system version 4.1, the camera pixel is higher, 3MP. D18/D96X body style is more upright, while the color is much richer, the machine size is 126 * 64 * 10.9 mm.
Hardware parameters of both are also consistent: with a 4-inch screen, the battery capacity of 1500 mAh, supports common sensors.
MT6572 is primarily intended for [so called] one thousand yuan [~$150] mobile terminal products, so the MTK6572 phone sells are worth of the wait, as several new machines with lower to Sunspan hardware specifications, maybe the same, will have a friendly price. After May a large number of MTK6572 dual-core processor models will become available, the choice available to users will be more and more, and we look forward to the MT6572′s performance.
And those first Sunspan products were produced by the largest cellphone ODM in mainland China, WingTech [闻泰] Communications:
From the feature to quickly switch your Smartphone / 从功能机到智能机的快速切换 [Jiaxing Daily, March 22, 2013] as traslated by Bing and Google, with manual edits:
Decoding the “top ten 2012 to take a new road to industrialization enterprises”: WingTech Communications Review
“Sales of only 640 million yuan [$104M] in the first half of last year, while in the second half, sales more than doubled over the first half, jumped to 1.2 billion yuan [$195M]. In January to February period of this year, sales have exceeded 600 million yuan [$97M], an increase of 140%.” At the time of describing the achievement WingTech Communications Vice Chairman Xiao Xuebing [肖学兵] conceals his excitement inside: benefit from timely adjustment, increased research and development, decisiveness in the transformation and upgrading.
… From the first half of 2012 Xiao Xuebing introduced in Wingtech a timely transformation and upgrading, increased investment in the development of 3G smart phones in order to gradually force new products onto the market in the second half of the year, and quickly switch from the feature phone market to the most popular smart phone market.
… WingTech has large scale, low-cost advantage, which thanks to ODM orders from Huawei [华为], Haier [海尔], Sunspan [天迈], TCL and other domestic brands, as well as a powerful combination with carriers and falling smartphone prices lead to rapid sales growth and rapid adoption in the market. Now WingTech is still mass recruiting the staff, nevertheless it is expected that the whole production would exceed 3 million units in March, again hitting an all-time record.
Even in the worst economic situation of the winter of 2008 the 1000 people strong R&D team of WingTech Communications, under the leadership of CEO Zhang Xuezheng [张学政], still advocated a “while others are ‘dormant’ we need to have ‘winter’ “ approach – a gathering of its hundreds of elite “retreats” hundred days focus research and development. This spirit of innovation remains to this day – still coming down.
“After the 4-inch dual-core smartphones, we will soon launch 5-inch and 6-inch quad-core smart phones, as well as 7-inch, 8-inch and 10-inch PAD tablets, for which WingTech will use its own core technology, building more ordinary people affordable smart electronic products.” said Xiao Xuebing “The new products apply a lot of new technologies from the latest R&D. In the upcoming smartphones we’ve designed in a dual microphone, one for sound recording and the other for filtering the background noise. In the dual camera space, as distinct from the existing front camera, the light rear camera consists in fact two cameras, so as to achieve a 3D effect shooting.”
Outside of research and innovation, during the manufacturing process, WingTech is also vigorously promoting technological innovation, introducing more robots and constantly increasing automation. Automation can not only rapidly increase productivity, but also can help with the stability of product quality. “Product testing was done by manual inspection in the past, only one at a time, and now with automated tools, we can have a simultaneous inspection, measuring eight mobile phones at once” – young workers of the company are saying.
Meanwhile, thanks to the technology innovation, there are cost savings to the WingTech. “Circuit boards used to have a border. Now with a free border process, as long as the increase in the tray, the circuit board does not require a border.” For businesses less materials, for society reduced energy consumption and reduced waste generation.
“Last year we had less than 2000 people working for us, of which 500 were short-term employed, but at full horsepower we may take up to 3000 employees.” Xiao Xuebing told reporters that: “In March this year, the unit sales of cell phones would reach 3 million units and sales volume will reach 500 million yuan [$81M]. WingTech Communications’ annual target for the year 2013 is to exceed unit sales of 40 million and the value of production to be over 4 billion yuan [$649M], up to 6 billion yuan [$973M].”
Automation was indeed a primary direction when moving to the smartphone production, as evidenced by Wingtech Chooses LitePoint IQ2010 to Calibrate and Test Smartphones [LitePoint press release, Feb 5, 2013]
/PRNewswire/ — LitePoint( http://www.litepoint.com )(R) announced today that Wingtech Electronics Tech( http://www.wingtech.com/EngLish ), one of China’s leading providers of mobile phone design and manufacturing services, has chosen LitePoint’s IQ2010 for production calibration and verification of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth functionality in its new line of smartphones.
With the surge in the use of high-end smartphones and the increasing complexity of technology built into these devices, Wi-Fi testing is expected—and often mandated by the cellular service provider. Being at the forefront of smartphone design and development, Wingtech recognized the need for a fast, accurate and cost-effective production test solution. YeHua, Director of Research and Development at Wingtech, said, “We looked into a variety of solutions to test our products and chose the IQ2010 because of the system’s overall performance, as well as the confidence we have in LitePoint as a total solution provider. The IQ2010 addresses our need for a high-quality, turn-key test solution, so it was the obvious choice for us.”
Manufacturing cost-effective mobile devices requires a comprehensive wireless test solution that provides complete functional verification while maximizing unit throughput—the deployment of which typically occurs under intense time-to-market pressure. “Cost considerations in setting up a production line, coupled with demanding quality assurance requirements, mandate high-speed wireless test without sacrificing test coverage,” said Gary Wang, general manager of LitePoint, China. “The IQ2010 is well suited for the growing China smartphone market and designed to meet rigorous production test requirements while optimizing the total cost of ownership.”
Availability
LitePoint’s IQ2010 solution is available today.
About Wingtech
Wingtech ( http://www.wingtech.com/EngLish ) is a new technology enterprise group in the China wireless network communication market that provides mobile phone design services, manufacturing services and value-added services based on wireless terminal series. Wingtech is mainly dedicated to product customization, research and development, production and sales of wireless terminals. It also focuses on providing solutions using new business models with vertical integration of cell phone design and manufacturing of integrated terminal, brand, mobile Internet solutions for the Internet of things.
About LitePoint
LitePoint( http://www.litepoint.com ), a wholly owned subsidiary of Teradyne, Inc.(http://www.teradyne.com ) (TER), is based in Sunnyvale, California. The company designs, develops and supports advanced wireless test solutions( http://www.litepoint.com/Solutions.html ) for developers of wireless devices and consumer electronics, contract manufacturers and wireless integrated circuit designers. LitePoint solutions( http://www.litepoint.com/Solutions.html ) have enabled optimization and verification of the operation of more than one billion wireless devices worldwide. LitePoint products( http://www.litepoint.com/Products.html ) are used in development and high-volume manufacturing, providing its customers with improved ROI, time-to-market, manufacturing yields, and product quality. For more, go to www.litepoint.com.
Previously WingTech was supported by the state and party to becomer the largest feature phone maker in China, as evidenced by: Party Secretary and Chief Executive of Huangpu District in Shanghai Zhou Wei Inspected Industrialized Base for Wingtech Cell Phones [WingTech press release]
On June 18, 2009, accompanied by … <a long list of people> … Zhou Wei, deputy party secretary and chief executive of Huangpu District paid a visit to the industrialized base for Wingtech cell phones.
Zhou Wei and his companions toured the showroom, test room and production lines of Wenxun and Wendi. After that, the leaders and Zhang Xuezheng, the CSO of Wingtech Group, held a symposium, where Mr. Zhang reported in details the company’s history and achievements since its establishment, and current situations.
Zhou Wei, deputy party secretary and chief executive of Huangpu District, said that it was not easy for Wingtech to be developed into the largest cell phone maker in China within less than two years. As a leading enterprise in the communication industry, Wingtech has made its great contributions in terms of fiscal revenue, personnel introduction, protection of intellectual property rights and technological innovation. He also added that the District Government of Huangpu should pay closer attentions on caring about and supporting high-tech groups like Wingtech so as to support its sustainable development.
With regards to patent application and protection, leaders from the Science Committee of Huangpu District expressed that more supports would be provided to enterprise like Wingtech in protecting the intellectual property rights, and the smooth transfer should be ensured in executing the policies of the state, municipality and the district and the enterprise, so as to promote Wingtech to make new progresses in technological innovation and application and protection of intellectual property rights.
With respect to finance and taxes, the leader from the Finance Bureau of Huangpu said special funds invested in Wingtech would increase and preferential tax policies supporting Wingtech and other high-tech enterprises be implemented so as to reduce their burdens and enhance their strength for development.
For the issue of personnel indraught, the leaders concerned expressed that Shanghai may need a large number of highly qualified personnel in the field of communication to satisfy the economic development, whereas Wingtech, as a leading enterprise in the sector, can serve as a cradle to attract and foster the communication personnel. In order to support enterprises like Wingtech to attract and retain personnel, the government of Huangpu District will further study and discuss such matters as household registration policies, individual income tax and education of children so as to figure out a practical preference scheme as soon as possible. In addition, as Wingtech Group develops rapidly, its office space becomes over crowded due to the suddenly increased number of personnel. Leaders from Huangpu said they would solve this issue as soon as possible.
During the meeting, Zhou Wei, the deputy secretary and chief executive of Huangpu District, presented on behalf of Huangpu District Government a gift—Hangguang Porcelain to Wingtech Group. The gift indicates that Wingtech Group could develop stably, maintain its foundation permanently and make innovations and breakthroughs continuously so as to be the model enterprise in the communication industry in both China and the world.
More information of the above kind is in the Wingtech Group honored with “outstanding performance prize of China mobile phone industry 2010 [press release, Dec 21, 2010]
The still old company profile About Wingtech [闻泰] Group [集团] [LinkedIn, originally created on July 23, 2009], the corrections in square brackets are from the WingTech profile page in Chinese (http://www.wingtech.com/Chinese/Company-Content-ID-8.html) in the hope that it contains later information
As a high-tech company, Wingtech Group mainly provides clients with the integrated cell phones program design, production, and wireless terminal-based value-added service, and is committed to the customized service, R&D, production, sales, after-sales service of wireless terminal products.
Founded in 2006, Wingtech Group consists of Shanghai R&D Center, Shenzhen Operation Center, and Jiaxing Production Center. Currently, Wingtech has a team of nearly
2000[4000] employees. Its products cover PHS, GSM(GPRS), CDMA(1X), EDGE, TD-SCDMA[, EVDO] and all handheld device series ranging from 2G to 4G, with an annual turnover of hundreds of millions of US dollars.Since its foundation, Wingtech has always persisted in the independent technical innovation, and make a lot of efforts in development and application of new technology of wireless communication. So far, Wingtech has owned nearly one thousand technical patents, a number of the world leading technologies, and is increasing 500 patents every year. Meanwhile, Wingtech has been in possession of perfect sales networks and under total process control systems (ISO9001:2000, ISO14001, QC080000).
Wingtech puts focus on local strengths while eyeing the world. Due to strong innovation, reliable quality, and high cost performance, Wingtech products have been very popular with customers at home and abroad. Currently, Wingtech products have been exported to over 30 countries, and over
50[80] million consumers around the world are enjoying happy wireless mobile experience through Wingtech products and services.Website: http://www.wingtech.com
Industry: Telecommunications
Type: Privately Held
Company Size: 1001-5000 employees
The latest external to China (actually for India) Overview [Callbar, July 15, 2011]
Callbar is a world leading mobile phone brand owned by WINGTECH GROUP LIMITED. Registered in HK with operation center in Shenzhen, manufacture base in Jiaxing and R&D center in Shanghai & Xi’an, we directly or indirectly employ over 4,000 people in China and other countries worldwide. Since establishment in 2006, we’ve evolved into a leading ODM supplier serving customers including MOTOROLA, LG, Philips and HUAWEI. In last 2 years we successfully extended our business into Wireless Terminal Internet Service and international distribution with our own brand WING. Our annual turnover reached USD 600million in 2009. Consumers around the world are enjoying Callbar mobile phones which features innovation, quality and cost effectiveness.
Better Quality, Better Price.
And the latest external to China milestone descriptions (actually for India):
History [Callbar, July 15, 2011]
2006 Y
In 2006,Wingtech Telecom was registered in Hong Kong and marched into cell phone PCBA industrial.
2007 Y
In May 2007, Zhejiang Communication Industry (Jiaxing) Base and Wingtech Cell Phone Industrialization Base started to be built.
In May 2007, Wingtech Telecom cooperated with SpreadTrum in the field of 3G industry in order to promote the development of 3G industry
In November 2007, Wingtech Telecom joined TD-SCDMA industry alliance, focusing on development and application of TD technique.
In December 2007, Wingtech Telecom sold 20 million sets of cell phones in total, which made Wingtech to be NO.1 of iSuppli.
2008 Y
In April 2008, Wingtech Telecom ranked the top one in the Chinese IDH industry.
In April 2008, Wingtech and Indian famous cell phone company-FRIWO cooperated to establish a mobile terminal product showroom in New Delhi, which is a totally new mode of cooperation between China and India.
In November 2008, Wingtech held the “Wireless Communication New Tech Summit”.
In November 2008, Zhejiang Communication Industry (Jiaxing) Base and the Wingtech Cell Phone Industrialization Base were put into production.
2009 Y
In March 2009, Wingtech and China Telecommunication Technology Labs entered into the cooperative agreement to establish the strategic cooperative relationship.
In May 2009, Xi’an R&D centre established, which further enhances Wingtech telecom R&D capability.
2011 Y
Wingtech launches its Callbar brand strategy all over the world so as to make more people to be serviced by Wingtech.
While the latest external to China (actually for India) Structure [Callbar, July 15, 2011], with geographical inserts added as required
Shanghai R&D centre
Shanghai R&D Center has a team of over one thousand R&D staff members, with R&D achievement covering the whole series of mobile terminal products of GSM, CDMA, EDGE, TD-SCDMA, EVDO etc, ranging from 2G to 3G. So far, the R&D Center has owned nearly one thousand national patents.
With strong R&D strength and firm technical foundation, the R&D Center has been rewarded many titles by Shanghai Government.Meanwhile, Wingtech joins the TD-SCDMA industrial alliance to actively conduct the R&D and application of TD products so as to speed up the Chinese industrialization.
Jiaxing production centre
In addition to the cell phone design service, Wingtech can provide customers with the high-efficiency and high-quality production service.Wingtech invested $70 million in building a cell phone industrial base of over 140 000 square meters in Jiaxing,in which Wingtech produces mobile phones of first class for world famous brands.
Wingtech Cell Phone Industrial Base has given an impetus to the development of the local communications industry. And with this impetus, a world-class cell phone industrial cluster with an output of more than 30,000,000 sets, and an annual turnover of RMB 10 billion formed around this Cell Phone Industrial Base.
More information: Jiaxing [Wikipedia article]Shenzhen operation centre
To better serve market and customers, Wingtech Telecom establishes the Operation Center in Shenzhen which is responsible for the procurement, sales and technical support. And with the help of its reliable supply chain system, professional marketing team, the world-class ERP and logistics guarantee system, Shenzhen Operation Centre provides first class service to our local and worldwide customers.
At present, over 70 million consumers around the world are enjoying happy wireless mobile experience through Wingtech products and services.
Xi’an R&D Centre
Founded in 2009, Xi’an R&D Centre is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Wingtech Group. It is mainly engaged in R&D and application of wireless communication new technology for providing 2G-4G GSM, CDMA and TD-SCDMA full system mobile terminal devices.
Xi’an Wingtech enjoys an internationally top grade R&D team and powerful R&D capacity. Among the over 100 R&D engineers, above 60% of them are doctoral degree holders and master degree holders. As for quality control, Xi’an Wingtech has introduced whole process quality control system (ISO9001:200, ISO14001, QC080000), and performs Six Sigma Management following quality control standards of internationally top grade enterprises for developing and providing stable and reliable products to customers.
Xi’an is on the far left of this map, Jiaxing and Shanghai are on the far right
More information: Xi’an [Wikipedia article]
Note that in Xi’an another cellphone industrial cluster has been created, as evidenced by World’s biggest wireless semiconductor producer establishes branch in N.W China city [Xinhua, Dec 23, 2011] news article
Qualcomm, the world’s largest wireless semiconductor company, has announced it will set up a branch in Xi’an, capital of northwest Shaanxi province, according to the management committee of the city’s high-tech area on Friday.
In the past years, the U.S.-based global leader in 3G and next generation wireless telecommunication technologies has established cooperative relationships with Chinese counterparts such as Huawei, ZTE, Yulong Coolpad and Wingtech.
Qualcomm’s branch in Xi’an is a strategic option and also a good beginning, said Zhao Hongzhuan, director of the Xi’an high-tech area management committee, adding that the area will provide “big support and quality service” to Qualcomm, and said he hopes the company will expand its investment in Xi’an.
China has already become one of the fastest growing markets for Qualcomm, said Wang Xiang, president of Qualcomm greater China. “Qualcomm decided to set up its branch in Xi’an because of the city’s complete industrial chain, strong technical strengths and rich talent,” Wang said.
Qualcomm entered the Chinese market in the late 1990s and already has branches in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen.
Note as well that Wingtech’s engagement with Spreadtrum goes much older:
Spreadtrum and WingTech Enter Strategic Partnership [joint press release, April 24, 2008]
JIAXING, China, April 24 /Xinhua-PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Spreadtrum Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq: SPRD), one of China’s leading wireless baseband chipset providers, today announced during the “International Handset Supply Chain Summit 2008” that Spreadtrum and WingTech Group have entered into a strategic partnership aimed at leveraging their respective leading edge chip and handset design technologies. This two-day summit, sponsored by Jiaxing Communication Industry Association and organized by WingTech Communication Science and Technology Co. Ltd., promotes the theme of “Developing hand in hand for mutual benefits in the future.”
The announced Spreadtrum-WingTech partnership is expected to benefit both companies and their customers as it is intended to capitalize on Spreadtrum’s technology expertise in developing chipsets and WingTech’s strengths in handset design for the industry. With the establishment of this new strategic partnership, WingTech will deploy Spreadtrum’s SC6600W chip in its handsets. The SC6600W is a single chip quad-band GSM/GPRS multimedia baseband intended for WingTech handsets targeted at feature rich entry-level phones that include features such as MP3 playback, stereo output, voice recording, and Bluetooth interface for wireless data transmissions. Like Spreadtrum’s other highly integrated basebands, the SC6600W features an integrated multimedia processor and built-in power management circuits on a single chip, which should reduce production costs, while enabling customers such as WingTech to develop new, differentiated products within a quick time-to-market threshold.
Referring to this strategic partnership, president of WingTech Group, Zhang Xueying said, “WingTech and Spreadtrum have a long history of close and steady partnership. Spreadtrum’s advanced technologies and products are one of the important factors that account for WingTech’s rapid growth. By entering this partnership, we believe we will be in the best possible position to win additional market share through use of the customized SC6600W chip, since it may greatly reduce the time-to-market and overall cost while improving core competitiveness of our products. This announcement further strengthens the strategic alliance between our two companies, but also starts a new mode of business collaboration in the industry to push the differentiation of the terminal products. WingTech will commit itself to unite all the segments in the industry to develop hand in hand for mutual benefits in the future.”
Dr. Ping Wu, President and CEO of Spreadtrum, expressed, “By establishing this strategic partnership, we hope to expand and deepen the cooperation with WingTech in technology, marketing and other aspects to further expand our markets and accelerate our respective technology innovation. We believe that closer cooperation between the handset design solution provider and chip designer will be in everyone’s interest to further improve the features and diversity of future handset products. We look forward to a sustained, close partnership with WingTech and to driving a new round of development in China’s communication industry.”
About Spreadtrum:
Spreadtrum Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq: SPRD; “Spreadtrum”) is a fabless semiconductor company that designs, develops, and markets baseband processor solutions for the mobile wireless communications market. Spreadtrum combines its semiconductor design expertise with its software development capabilities to deliver highly-integrated baseband processors with multimedia functionality and power management. Spreadtrum has developed its solutions based on an open development platform, enabling its customers to develop customized wireless products that are feature-rich and meet their cost and time-to-market requirements.
For more information, please check: http://www.spreadtrum.com
About WingTech:
WingTech group was founded in Hong Kong at the end of 2005 and ever since then, it has been devoting to R&D, manufacturing and marketing of mobile terminals. The main business scope includes complete design solution for mobile phones and value-added services based on mobile terminals. With technological strength and excellent products, after only two years from its establishment, WingTech has risen to be one of the top Chinese mobile companies
Meanwhile WingTech has well established itself in India:
– originally as a feature phone ODM for a number of leading local brands in India, as evidenced by: Wingtech Group [microsite on Importers.com, May 31, 2010]:
Company already designing mobiles for Lava, Karbon, Spice, Intex, Videocon, Micromax, G-five. Now plannig to launch their own brand”WING”. Looking for importers.
– in addition indeed introducing its first own brand, WING in 2010, as evidenced by the History page of a separate http://www.wingtele.com/ site
– then by the already referenced Callbar brand a year later, as evidenced by another separate site http://www.callbar.in
– then becoming available under the Wingtech brand itself, evidenced by Wingtech Mobile Phones in India [Sulekha.com] microsite
Background: MediaTek: Ready For Prime Time [stock analysis report from Maybank, April 25, 2013]
…
With smartphones hitting the mainstream market, the replacement cycle for feature phones seems to be accelerating and tablet adoption in the emerging markets (in particular China) is gathering momentum. Against this backdrop, we think MTK may have to raise its target unit shipments of 400-450m smartphones and 100m tablets for 2013.
Best positioned to benefit from new secular trend. MTK is stepping up efforts to diversify its product portfolio to capture the proliferation of smart devices. It will have all its application processors (APs) on 28nm node this year, with designs based on the latest Cortex-A7 and/or Cortex-A15. By mid-year, it will introduce several low-cost models (MT6572/6582/6589M) to consolidate its position in the white-box market and enhance its cost structure. Also, MTK will foray into tablet markets (MT8389/8135 [big.Little design]), a new addressable market. By 4Q13, it will sample its high-end 4G/LTE/LTE-TDSCDMA modem chipset. Importantly, the ongoing consolidation of the AP industry and recent hiring of high-profile executives from Qualcomm could spur MTK to become a major force in the global smart device industry.
…
We note that MTK’s shipments include the white-box market, which is not captured by third-party research firms such as IDC. As such, analysing the change in MTK’s handset types may offer a clue to the dynamics of the handset industry, especially in the global emerging markets. We estimate MTK may ship close to 90m smartphones in 1H13 and its full-year target of 200m units (400-450m for global emerging markets) thus seems too conservative to us. An official upgrade in shipment per se and industry revisions should be expected. We currently forecast MTK to ship 235-240m smartphones in 2013. Back in November last year, our industry forecast of 500-550m unit shipments sounded aggressive, but now, it might look realistic given the speed of the replacement cycle and the popularity of smartphones in the global emerging countries.
…
Best positioned to benefit from new secular trend. MTK is stepping up efforts to diversify its product portfolio to capture the proliferation of smart devices. It will have all its APs on 28nm node this year, with designs based on the latest CortexA7 and/or Cortex-A15. In this section, we provide an update on MTK’s new products and compare them to some of the solutions offered by its peers. Figures 7-8 illustrate the timeline of product introduction and specifications.
MT6572 enters mass production in 2Q13 with the first shipment expected between late-May and June. MT6572 (dual-core, Cortex A7) is designed to replace MT6515 (single-core, Cortex A9) with significant cost savings and battery life enhancement. The die size of MT6572 is significantly smaller (than MT6515) and this AP comes with an integrated WiFi chipset – the first for MTK. Coupled with 28nm node and requiring only four layers of PCB board, we believe MT6572 offers significant cost savings for handset OEMs. MT6572 will also be a significant volume runner for MTK as it comes with various connectivity such as MT6572E (for 2.75G), MT6572T (TD-SCDMA) and MT6572W (WCDMA). The W-version targets smartphones with ASP of CNY1,000 (USD160) while the E-and-T-versions will go well-below CNY1,000 (USD100-125), and both should be well-received by the white-box market. We believe MT6572T can hold its own against Spreadtrum’s latest SC8825 (dual-core Cortex A5, TD-SCDMA on 40nm node and without integrated WiFi).
The MT6582 has features similar to those of the MT6572 but the former comes with Quad-core, Cortex A7 engines as opposed to the latter’s dualcore engine. Like the MT6572, MT6582 targets the white-box market for better system performance. We expect volume shipments to commence in 3Q13. We believe the MT6582W will compete well with Qualcomm’s MSM8225Q, the low-end Quad-core Cortex A5 AP which only supports WCDMA networks.
MT6589M is a cost-down version of the currently leading quad-core MT6589, which began shipment in March and has found favour among OEM customers (60-70 clients) in China. MT6589M shares most of the features and design architecture of MT6589. But it comes with HD and 8MP camera compared with full HD and 13MP camera for the latter. In addition, we estimate MTK could achieve 15-20% cost savings on MT6589M by tweaking some foundry and back-end processes. As such, MT6589M offers a lower cost solution for handset OEMs who do not wish to equip their smartphones with similar high-end features as MT6589. With a lower ASP, MTK could narrow the price gap between MT6589M and Qualcomm’s MSM8225Q by 10-15% and yet offer better features. We estimate the price gap between MT6589 and MSM8225Q currently is at least 30-40%. That being said, we note that MSM8225Q is a quad-core using Cortex A5 and 40nm node, and does not support TD-SCDMA network.
Marvell beaten by Chinese chipmakers in sub 1,000 yuan handset procurement tender of China Mobile
Follow-up: First real chances for Marvell on the tablet and smartphone fronts [Aug 21 – Sept 25, 2011]
No international vendors win China Mobile procurement bid for 6 million TD-SCDMA CMMB handsets, says report [Nov 15, 2010]:
China Mobile will procure 12 models of inexpensive TD-SCDMA CMMB handsets, with an equal procurement volume of 500,000 units for each model, the report indicated. The seven local suppliers are ZTE with three models, Huawei Device, Lenovo and Coolpad each with two models as well as K-Touch, Hisense and New Postcom each with one model.
Vendors, including Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola and Samsung Electronics, all failed in the competition because China Mobile asked for a unit procurement price of below 1,000 yuan (US$150) and they do not offer such inexpensive TD-SCDMA handset models, the report pointed out. Consequently, the seven China-based vendors eat the whole pie, with prices ranging from 350 yuan [US$52.7] to 650 [US$97.8] yuan.
Seven of the 12 models will use TD-SCDMA chips developed by China-based Leadcore Technology, a member of Datang Telecom Technology & Industry Group, and five models will be equipped with chips developed by China-based Spreadcom [Spreadtrum] Communications and T3G (originally China-based but has merged into ST-Ericsson).
Details on the model number, TD-SCDMA chipset vendor, and CMMB chip vendor for each handset are as follows (source Marbridge Daily):
Earlier reports about the tender announcement were:
– China Mobile to procure 6 million TD-SCMA handsets, says Chinese media [Oct 8, 2010]: “Of the total, 3.6 million will be of entry-level models and 2.4 million mid-range products. … the latest procurement effort is largely due to the fourth phase of the China Mobile’s TD-SCMA network construction. When completed, demand for TD-SCMA end-use products is expected to increase substantially.”
– China market: Inexpensive TD-SCDMA handsets to be available in 4Q10 [Oct 13, 2010]: “Pushed by China Mobile, TD-SCDMA handsets and smartphones at retail prices of about 500 yuan (US$75) and 1,000 yuan respectively will be available in the China market in the fourth quarter of 2010. … China Mobile is setting up its fourth-phase TD-SCDMA network of more than 100,000 base stations and expects the number of TD-SCDMA subscribers to increase from 13.42 million currently to 100 million in 2012.”
Please note the globally rock-bottom nature of 350 yuan [US$52.7] for entry-level models and of 650 [US$97.8] yuan mid-range products. No wonder that such a low-cost and high-performance system-on-a-chip (SoC) leader as Marvell Technology Group Ltd. had no chance to succeed through any of its handset manufacturing partners. Despite of its long stated aim to capitalize on huge volumes made possible by the sub 1,000 yuan TD-SCDMA handsets:
– Marvell Empowers Mass Market TD-SCDMA OPhones with PXA920 Chipset [Sept 8, 2009]:
The Marvell PXA920 [which later has obtained the additional name Pantheon 920] comes with a dedicated high performance ARM instruction set compliant Sheeva™ processor and an integrated release 7 (TD-SCDMA, TD-HSDPA, TD-HSUPA) TD-SCDMA baseband [processor] as well as a China Mobile proven EDGE modem.
“China Mobile Research Institute believes that the OPhone platform operating on the Marvell PXA920 will catalyze the hyper-growth of TD-SCDMA smartphones as it provides a powerful combination of value-added services on a feature rich, high performance and highly affordable platform. We believe that the PXA920 solution will help us realize China Mobile’s vision of sub-1000 RMB [sub $146] TD OPhones in the near future,” said Bill Huang general manager of China Mobile Research Institute. “Marvell has worked with us from the start of the PXA920 program [2 years ago] and we are excited by the rapid progress we have made towards realizing this milestone. China Mobile will work closely with Marvell and handset eco-system partners to deploy the PXA920 and we look forward to the rapid launch of next generation TD-SCDMA OPhones based on the Marvell PXA920.”
“It is an especially proud moment for me to work with China Mobile on the mass market launch of TD-SCDMA OPhones in China,” said Shanghai-born, Weili Dai, Marvell co-founder and vice president and general manager of the company’s Consumer and Computing Business Group. “Marvell’s mission is to make technology more useful and more affordable to more of the world’s consumers. The PXA920 realizes a shared vision of China Mobile and Marvell to make powerful and affordable smartphones accessible to everyone. With the first single chip solution for TD-SCDMA, Marvell is raising the technology bar for the entire industry.
– Marvell’s Vision and Long Term Commitment to China Positions Company for Next Phase of Growth [Sept 7, 2009]:
Marvell, with approximately $3 billion in revenues in fiscal year 2009, has nearly 700 employees in its Shanghai campus and is aggressively planning to expand its operations in China. The company has focused on building its presence in the China market for most of its 14 year history, initially developing strong relationships with enterprise customers like Huawei and ZTE.
…
Last week, Marvell celebrated the culmination of several years of investment in the China smartphone market with the introduction of the Marvell® PXA920, the first commercially available single-chip solution, enabling mass market availability of TD-SCDMA smartphones. Developed by Marvell’s research and development center in Shanghai, the PXA920 is a high performance, super integrated chipset that makes the new smartphones far more affordable than feature phones currently offered by China Mobile while providing enhanced performance versus current smartphones.
Update: That opportunity was realized only 2 years later. See:First real chances for Marvell on the tablet and smartphone fronts [Aug 21, 2011]
– Marvell Technology Group CEO Sehat Sutardja on Bloomberg [Sept, 2009]:
Our strategy is to focus:
- Focus on high-end smartphones
- Move smartphones to mainstream cell/feature-phone price range
- Work with China Mobile [world’s largest mobile company] for TD-SCDMA
– Marvell Drives $99 Smartphones to Market With New Pantheon Platform [Feb 12, 2010]
– Marvell Affirms Significant Progress in TD-SCDMA Mobile Phone Chipset at Mobile World Congress 2010 – Company Showcases Array of New Smartphones Developed for the China Market Powered by Marvell’s Low Cost, High Performance Processors [Feb 15, 2010]:
More than 90 percent of all OPhones (EDGE and TD-SCDMA) shipped since launch last September are built on Marvell’s power efficient, high performance silicon technology.
In addition to OPhones, Marvell recently announced new breakthrough developments in cellular silicon technology with the new Pantheon(TM) communication processors which enable development of sleeker, high performance smartphones with HD-quality, live instant video, voice, data and 3D graphics for gaming and other popular mobile applications for consumers.
“Marvell is proud to have been an early technology partner to China Mobile on the development of the OPhone smartphone and we are delighted to see the rapid and broad adoption of China’s TD-SCDMA standard,” said Ms. Weili Dai, Marvell’s Co-founder and Vice President and General Manager of Marvell Semiconductor’s Consumer and Computing Business Unit. “… The collaboration with China Mobile affirms our commitment to drive the smartphone for mass market adoption and to deliver the ‘always-on lifestyle’ to consumers around the world.”
“China Mobile’s vision of the sub-1000 RMB (sub $150) TD-SCDMA OPhones will become a reality because of our collaboration with leading companies like Marvell,” said Bill Huang general manager of China Mobile Research Institute. “Marvell and China Mobile are excited by the rapid progress we have made in the TD-SCDMA technical cooperation.”
As the world’s first solution with a built-in TD-SCDMA platform solution with a 55nm design, the Pantheon 920 is a high performance, highly integrated solution that helps make smartphones far more affordable than feature phones while providing enhanced performance compared to current smartphones.
The Pantheon 920 processor [exactly the same as the PXA 920 announced in Sept 2009]supports all leading open operating system (OS) software platforms and come with a dedicated high performance ARM instruction set compliant Marvell CPU processor, high performance HD video, 3D graphics accelerators, and industry’s leading TD-SCDMA modem with 2.8Mbps HSDPA and 2.2Mbps HSUPA.
Certainly it could be the case that the next round of China Mobile tender for sub 2,000 yuan (sub $300) handset procurements will be won by Marvell. The sub 1,000 yuan (sub $150) segment, however, has been lost for them.
Background on Chinese chipmakers now succeeding against Marvell and all other international operations
When looking into the background of local chipmakers, especially that of the biggest winner Leadcore technology, one thing becomes absolutely clear. The telecommunication chip supply is as much under state control as the whole telecommunication market. Moreover every strategy related decision, which of this procurement process is just one example, is under direct control of the Central Commitee of the Chinese Communist Party. As as consequence there is no wonder that no international chip maker has any chance to penetrate the mass handset market technologically viable for local chipmakers. It is quite probable that the Central Commitee wants to build an internationally competitive local chip industry via the huge volumes available on their home handset market. Some evidence:
– Leadcore Unveiled oPhone Solutions to Strengthen the High-end TD-SCDMA Handset [April 23, 2009]
On April 23, 2009, in the Leadcore Technology Annual Client Conference 2009, Mr. Sun Yu, the president of Leadcore Tech revealed the progress of TD-SCDMA terminals development. Mr. Sun Yu said that more than 60 handsets are based on the Leadcore solutions in the current 100 TD-SCDMA handsets. More than 70% TD-SCDMA terminals products in the market were derived from the Leadcore’s DTivy. The Pecker test terminal launched by the Leadcore technology occupied the vast majority share of TD-SCDMA test terminal market. He also revealed that China Mobile was taking its great effort to R&D the solutions of OMS-based TD-SCDMA handset, oPhone, which will be released by Leadcore on April 23, 2009.
– TD Forum Attended Leadcore Technology Client Conference to Witness the New Heights of Chip Manufacturers [April 22, 2010]
– Continuous innovation to lead the future – the core technology wonderful debut thirteenth China Beijing International High-Tech Expo [May 27, 2010], as translated from Chinese by Google:
展会期间联芯科技展位受到了中央领导以及参展观众的高度关注，取得良好反响。 Core Technology Alliance booth during the exhibition by the central leadership and the participating audience attention and achieved good response. 中共中央政治局委员、市委书记刘淇，中共中央政治局委员、国务委员刘延东，国务委员、公安部部长孟建柱，均来到联芯科技TD联盟展位驻足参观，了解公司最新技术与市场化成果。 CPC Central Committee, Liu Qi, Party Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, State Councilor Liu Yandong, State Councilor and Minister of Public Security Meng Jianzhu, are the core technology to the joint booth TD Union stopped to visit, understand the latest technology and market results.
– General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPC, Chinese President and Chairman of Central Military Commission, Jintao Hu paid an inspection visit to Spreadtrum Communications (Shanghai) Co., Ltd [Jan 18, 2010]
– Hu calls for independent innovation [Jan 18, 2010]:
Hu Jintao (R front), general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, shakes hands with young members of the research and development team as he inspects Spreadtrum Communications, Inc., in Shanghai, east China, on Jan. 16, 2010. Hu Jintao made an inspection tour in Shanghai on Jan. 14-17. [Xinhua]
… At the Spreadtrum Communication, Inc., a high-tech company founded by returned overseas students, Hu said independent innovation is the lifeline of a company. He told the company staff “I hope you could make further breakthroughs in core technologies, so as to boost China’s communication industry.”
– Spreadtrum Communications, Inc. Announces $44 Million of New Financing [May 5, 2009]:
“We very much appreciate and are excited to receive this nearly interest-free financing. This indicates the Chinese government’s strong support and high confidence in Spreadtrum to develop semiconductor products in 2nd and 3rd generation wireless communications in the Chinese market. We plan to use our borrowings under the loan to increase R&D investment in our GSM and TD-SCDMA projects and to expand our IC operations in China. With our strengthened financial position, we are more confident in our ability to overcome the difficulties caused by the current worldwide economic and financial crisis and do not expect to need to raise additional funds in the near future,” said Dr. Leo Li, president and chief executive officer of Spreadtrum Communications, Inc.
And these are just the visible indications that local chipmakers are getting huge government subsidies. And T3G, now a wholly owned subsidiary of ST Ericsson, has also been a very much preferred player because of its parent’s huge patent portfolio and international Ericsson influence in the strategic (for China’s local and foreign market efforts) LTE wins (see: IMT-Advanced (4G) for the next-generations of interactive mobile services, China is triumphant [Oct 24, 2010]). With that they can beat even the best international chip house, the Marvell Technology Group.
1. Leadcore Technology (part of the state-owned Datang Telecom Technology & Industry Group)
The current outcome is not the first time for the biggest winner Leadcore Tedchnology (with seven of the 12 models using its TD-SCDAM chip, i.e. 58% or 3.5M chips) as evidenced by one and a half years old news of Leadcore Technology Gets Big Order from China Mobile [May 21, 2009]:
Leadcore Technology Co., Ltd., together with its three partners, wins nearly a half of the CNY 600 million subsidy from China Mobile in the telecom carrier’s latest round of bidding for TD-SCDMA terminal procurement
…
Leadcore’s mobile phone chips are applied in five models of TD-SDMA mobile phones that are ordered by China Mobile this time.
The TD-SCDMA network operator has ordered 11 models of mobile phones, including the Leadcore chip-powered low-end TD-SCDMA devices launched by ZTE Corporation (SZSE: 000063 and SEHK: 0763) and LG, as well as the Leadcore chip-based flagship broadband TD-SCDMA products rolled out by LG, ZTE, and Yulong Computer Telecommunication Scientific (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd.
The other companies share the TD-SCDMA terminal order from China Mobile include T3G Technology Co., Ltd., Spreadtrum Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq: SPRD), Dopod Communication Corporation, Motorola, Samsung, Huawei Technologies, Hisense, and Guangzhou New Postcom Equipment.
Leadcore Technology’s lead on the technology market for TD-SCDMA terminals goes back to the very beginning as was reported by Datang Licensed TD Tech from Leadcore [Sept. 30, 2009]:
Sun Yuwang, president at Leadcore Technology, once said that more than 60 of the over 100 TD handsets that have gotten network access licenses in the country have been equipped with Leadcore chips, with an additional 14 new models afoot. Among the top four PC makers in the world, Lenovo, HP and Acer have all adopted Leadcore’s products.
Leadcore’s TD chip shipment outpaced 1 million pieces this past April, topping 2 million by the end of this August. Now the company is holding more than 60% of the domestic TD chip market.
Leadcore’s dominance has been further evidenced by TD Forum Attended Leadcore Technology Client Conference to Witness the New Heights of Chip Manufacturers [April 22, 2010]:
Dr. Jing Wang, Secretary-general of TD Forum attended the conference and witnessed great achievements gained by TD-SCDMA chip manufacturers since TD-SCDMA commercialization one year ago. With the further mature of TD-SCDMA market and gradually strengthened cooperation among related parts of TD-SCDMA industry, the problems occurred in the development of TD-SCDMA industry will be resolved effectively.
Leadcore is part of the state-owned Datang Telecom Technology & Industry Group which has the following structure:
with officially provided links as below:
Affiliations
Datang Telecom Technology & Industry Holdings Co.,Ltd.
- Datang Mobile Communications Equipment Co., Ltd.
- Leadcore Technology Co.,Ltd.
- Beijing Xinwei Telecom Technology Co.,Ltd.
- Datang Capital(Beijing) Co.,Ltd.
Datang Telecom Technology Co.,Ltd.
GoHigh Data Networks Technology Co.,Ltd.
Unit in charge
State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council
Among the affiliate links given above there is no link for Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) although on the stucture image it is listed as part of the Datang Telecom Technology & Industry Holdings Co.,Ltd.
- Update: Datang to raise stake in SMIC, says report [Nov 23]:
Datang Telecom Technology & Industry Holdings has agreed to acquire US$102 million worth of Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) shares to bring its stake in the foundry chipmaker to 20%, according to a Chinese-language sina.com report.
The report said SMIC will use the new funds mainly to expand advanced process capacity at its 12-inch fabs.
Datang, directly owned by China’s central government, is currently the majority shareholder of SMIC with a 16.6% stake.
Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) will pump at least US$2 billion into research and development annually in the future, aiming to develop “world-class” technologies and manufacturing within the next five years, according to Jiang Shang Zhou, chairman of the China-based foundry chipmaker.
…
SMIC is now undertaking a project to ramp up 45nm process capacity, which will cost it a total of about US$4 billion, Jiang noted. In addition, the company’s next move to a 32nm technology will initially require US$600 million, Jiang added.
Soon the Datang Telecom Technology & Industry Group will be even larger as per the news that China Potevio to merge with Datang [July 15, 2010]:
The government has decided to merge two State-owned telecom equipment makers – China Datang Corp and Potevio – by the end of this year, sources from Datang said on Wednesday.
The merged entity is expected to become the third-biggest telecom equipment maker in China after Huawei Technologies and ZTE Corp, the source said.
…
Datang is a large power generation company and one of the key promoters of the TD-SCDMA standard in the nation.
China Potevio is a leading IT equipment manufacturer and service provider. Its main businesses span the manufacture of telecommunications products, the application of telecom products, and the informatization of broadcasting and TV.
The group is also playing an active role in high-tech investments as per Datang Telecom planning PE fund [May 20, 2010]:
Telecom equipment maker Datang Telecom on Wednesday said it plans to set up a 5 billion yuan ($732.18 million) private equity (PE) fund for investments in the booming Internet of Things (IOT) industry.
Datang will partner with the Wuxi New District Venture Investment Group, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Wuxi Guolian Development (Group) Co to set up the PE fund with a corpus of 1 billion yuan in the first stage.
The company will invest 200 million yuan during the first stage of fundraising and hold a 40 percent equity stake in the fund management company being set up to manage the private equity fund.
IOT refers to networks of real-world objects linked to the Internet that interact through web services. The technology is based on the concept that all real-world objects can be identified and managed by computers if they are equipped with radio tags and linked to the Internet. Technologies such as radio frequency identification and sensors form the cornerstones of the network.
What is the current status of the group and Leadcore itself in relationship to China’s own TD-SCDMA and TD-LTE technologies? The Datang Telecom Group was awarded “2nd China Annual 3G Prize” [June 30, 2010] press release is giving all the details (emphasis is mine):
Since Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of PR China issued 3G licenses in January 2009, in TD-SCDMA industry DTG has occupied 30% of market share in system equipment, and 50% in chips and Solutions.
Currently, DTG possesses the most comprehensive TD-SCDMA solutions for all circumstances in the industry, and is competent to provide complete, end to end TD-SCDMA and TD-LTE business solutions. DTG has already provided network equipment supply and construction services to Guangdong, Shandong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and other key provinces. DTG actively cooperated with China Mobile to accomplish coverage of complex scenes, such as, intensive urban areas, large scaled stadiums, maglev trains and Cross-ocean Bridge, and provided premium green network with TD-SCDMA technology. All products provided by DTG are ready for smooth evolution towards TD-LTE. This award collectively represents high recognition and acceptance towards Datang Telecom Group for its contribution in promoting the development of Chinese telecommunication industry.
LeadCore Technology, winner of “TD-SCDMA terminal chip and the best solution provider”, is the core enterprise specialized in TD-SCDMA terminal industry in DTG. As a chip enterprise in the upstream position of industrial chain, Leadcore Technology always focuses on layout of industrial chain and value chain; Leadcore adheres to technology innovation and market-orientation; promotes industrialization of innovation achievements, persists in pursuing win-win situation from cooperation and also coordinates with the partners from industrial chain, so as to promote rapid and healthy development of TD-SCDMA industry.
2. Spreadtrum Communications, Inc (founded by Chinese expatriates in 2001, a public company since 2007 with principal executive offices and most operations in China but incorporated in Cayman Islands)
– Spreadtrum and Hisense Jointly Launched the World’s First Affordable TD-SCDMA Phone Supporting CMMB Digital TV [Jan 10, 2010]
Hisense N51 was jointly developed by Spreadtrum and Hisense in a highly collaborative technical partnership. Executive Vice President of Hisense Communication, Ms. Wenlin Yang, said: “Hisense and Spreadtrum share a long history of co-operation. Partnering with Spreadtrum, we successfully won the bid of ‘thousand-yuan 3G mobile phones’ project of China Mobile’s ‘TD-SCDMA Terminal Special Incentive Fund Project.’ Through our six-month joint efforts and Spreadtrum’s very competitive TD-SCDMA and CMMB solutions, the Hisense N51 was introduced. … “
President and CEO of Spreadtrum Communications, Inc., Dr. Leo Li, said: “… Spreadtrum provides highly integrated TD-SCDMA/HSDPA/GSM/GPRS/EDGE baseband chip SC8800H and RF chip QS3200, which effectively reduce the cost of development and manufacturing of Hisense Communication products. Therefore, Hisense Communication is able to introduce cost-effective handsets such as N51 by targeting the Chinese 3G market quickly to meet the needs of consumers. Spreadtrum CMMB mobile TV chip SC6600V provides Hisense N51 with vast application space. Particularly, Hisense N51 is currently the world’s only 1000 RMB level TD-SCDMA phone that supports CMMB.”
– Spreadtrum’s TD-SCDMA Chip Adopted in the World’s First 3G OPhone Lenovo O1 [Dec 14, 2009]:
Lenovo Mobile Communication Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Lenovo Mobile”) launched the world’s first TD-SCDMA standard-based OPhone smart phones – Lenovo O1, with immediate sales in all local markets in mainland China. The phone is based on Spreadtrum Communications, Inc. (hereinafter referred to as “Spreadtrum”, Nasdaq: SPRD) TD-SCDMA solution, and supports China Mobile OPhone OS smart phone operating system.
Spreadtrum and Lenovo Mobile, in a highly collaborative technical partnership, jointly developed Lenovo O1. This new handset runs on the China Mobile led developed Intelligent Terminal software platform – the OPhone platform. Lenovo 01 uses Spreadtrum’s TD-SCDMA/HSDPA / GSM / GPRS / EDGE baseband chip SC8800S and radio frequency (“RF”) chip QS3200.
– Spreadtrum and China Telecommunications Technology Labs Announce Strategic Partnership to Promote New Technologies and Services [May 15, 2009]
A unique industry chain capability has developed in China’s mobile phone industry, which now comprises of design, R&D, support, production, marketing, etc. This development will enhance the competitiveness of phones made in China for the local and overseas markets. With the strategic partnership of CTTL and Spreadtrum, our cooperation will create new technologies and services in wireless communications and multimedia terminals. For example, we expect to innovative services by utilizing our combined resources and new techniques in 2G and 3G networks to develop high-tech information security technologies for the mobile and multimedia markets. Our cooperation will simultaneously broaden and strengthen interactions in the industry chain.
… China Telecommunications Technology Labs (“CTTL”), founded in 1981, was named under the authorization of the Ministry of Information Industry (MII) and the State General Administration for Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ). Currently, CTTL is administrated by the China Academy of Telecommunications Research (CATR) and was formed through re-organization and merges of four divisions of CATR, i.e. the Research Institute of Telecommunications Transmission (RITT), the Telecommunications Metrology Center (TMC), the Research Institute for Industry Standard of Posts and Telecommunications (PTISR), the CTTL Anti-seismic Research Institute of Telecommunications Equipment, BaoDing (ARITE). It is a leading high-tech laboratory with the following missions: telecommunications technology development, telecommunications product standards and test methods research, telecommunications metrology standards and methods research, products inspection, verification and technical assessment and testing instruments metrology and evaluation of communications software.
– Spreadtrum Communications, Inc. Announces $44 Million of New Financing [May 5, 2009]:
“We very much appreciate and are excited to receive this nearly interest-free financing. This indicates the Chinese government’s strong support and high confidence in Spreadtrum to develop semiconductor products in 2nd and 3rd generation wireless communications in the Chinese market. We plan to use our borrowings under the loan to increase R&D investment in our GSM and TD-SCDMA projects and to expand our IC operations in China. With our strengthened financial position, we are more confident in our ability to overcome the difficulties caused by the current worldwide economic and financial crisis and do not expect to need to raise additional funds in the near future,” said Dr. Leo Li, president and chief executive officer of Spreadtrum Communications, Inc.
– Spreadtrum: TD-based Chip Shipment Totaled 100,000 [March 6, 2009]:
Spreadtrum Communications, Inc. clarified on March 3, 2009 that the shipment of its TD-SCDMA-based chips totaled nearly 100,000.
Earlier, the shipment of Spreadtrum’s TD-SCDMA-based chips was reported to reach 10,000 or so. The number is inaccurate, explained the Nasdaq-listed company, adding that mobile phones adopting its chips accounted for nearly one third of China’s procurement of 300,000 TD-SCDMA cellphones and terminals.
The Shanghai-based company incurred a net loss of USD 31.3 million for the third quarter of 2008, in contrast to a net profits of USD 6.1 million Q3 2007 and USD 2.6 million in Q2 2008
– Spreadtrum Announces World’s First TD-SCDMA/HSDPA/EDGE/GPRS/GSM Single-chip RF Transceiver – The QS3200 RF transceiver features high integration and low power consumption and provides 2G/2.5G/3G/3.5G multimode support [Feb 16, 2009]:
Followed by the GSM/GPRS single-chip RF transceiver, the QS500, and the GSM/GPRS/EDGE single-chip RF transceiver, the QS1000, today Spreadtrum announced the QS3200, the world’s first single-chip RF transceiver to support multimode such as 2G/3G/3.5G. The QS3200 offers great improvement over the other TD-SCDMA RF chip on signal transmission, reception, and power amplification in addition to the integrated features and low power consumption in Spreadtrum’s other chip solutions. The launch of the QS3200 makes Spreadtrum one of the total solution providers in the wireless communications market and takes a positive step forward in commercializing TD-SCDMA technology.
– Spreadtrum Announces SC6600V: First Single-Chip Demodulator/Decoder for CMMB-Based Mobile TV [May 7, 2008]
Spreadtrum’s new SC6600V solution is an integrated CMMB demodulator and source decoder chip and is the first single chip solution that supports both AVS and H.264 video decoding standards. As the first CMMB single chip solution for mobile TV, the SC6600V is designed for feature phones. The SC6600V adopts an integrated platform design for communications and mobile multimedia to reduce the design period of Spreadtrum’s customers. … Spreadtrum’s SC6600V single-chip solution is designed to enable handset makers and carriers to offer mobile TV feature in feature phones at reasonable prices, instead of being relegated to expensive SmartPhones as most mobile TV solutions are currently.
… CMMB is a homegrown mobile TV standard that applies to mobile devices such as mobile phones, PDAs and Portable Media Players (PMPs). It features free mobility, rich video and data services. In addition, it provides consumers with cost-effective mobile TV service that satisfies most consumers’ needs and is expected to be used in the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
Mr. Ma Jv, President, Academy of Broadcasting Science of the State Administration of Radio Film and Television, indicated that, “We are very glad that Spreadtrum has developed the SC6600V, the first CMMB-based Mobile TV single chip solution for mobile phones, which integrated demultiplex, channel decoder and source decoder. We believe that it will help CMMB start to grow its market quickly, and we hope Spreadtrum will continue to unleash its technology strengths, allowing it to contribute to the CMMB industry’s ongoing development and road to becoming prosperous.”
– Spreadtrum Communications Completes Acquisition of Quorum Systems [Jan 16, 2008]:
With the acquisition of Quorum, Spreadtrum gains a highly skilled RF engineering team of 30 engineers with an average of 10 years of industry experience. The combination of Spreadtrum’s leading single-chip baseband solutions with Quorum’s complementary, low-power high-performance RF designs is expected to strengthen Spreadtrum’s competitive position in the wireless market, including in 2G, 3G, RF, baseband, physical layer software, protocol and applications. Since its founding in 2003, Quorum has created multi-band transceiver designs ranging from GSM/GPRS/EDGE to WCDMA and 3G HSDPA application, plus a recently announced TD-SCDMA platform.
3. T3G (an ST Ericssson subsidiary since December 2008)
T3G has achieved an impressive record of world firsts in bringing innovation to China:
- The world’s first ASIC based TD-SCDMA system level call achieved in 2004
- The world’s first international TD-SCDMA call in 2004
- The world’s first 384Kbps commercial TD-SCDMA/EDGE dual-mode Samsung phone, powered by T3G’s chipset in 2005
- The world’s first ASIC based 2.8Mbps TD-HSDPA system call achieved in 2007
- The world’s first 2.8 million TD-HSDPA/EDGE dual-mode dual-band commercial data card powered by T3G’s chipset in 2008
- Completed the world’s first TD-LTE end-to-end application demonstration on multimode soft modem platform in 2009
- Launched the world’s first TD-HSPA chip in 65nm in 2009
– Strong presence and identity in China:
ST-Ericsson, through its subsidiary T3G, has been actively developing platforms for the TD mobile standard since 2003. The company’s extensive investment in technology and product development has given it a leadership position in the market. The company provides solutions to Chinese and global handset manufactures and design houses. It offers mobile chipsets, software protocols, system reference designs and customized technical support. In May 2009, ST-Ericsson was selected by China Mobile as a major technology partner for the development of its highend and low-cost handsets. The company will also support four of its customers to commercialize their mobile phones during 2009-2010.
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- ST-Ericsson’s 550 employees are based in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Hong Kong
- ST-Ericsson (ST-NXP Wireless) acquired T3G in December 2008. T3G was established in January 2003 as a joint venture. Its founding partners were Philips Semiconductors (later NXP Semiconductors, and finally ST-NXP Wireless), Datang Mobile, Samsung Electronics, and since 2005 also Motorola. T3G is based in Beijing.
– Datang set to sell off T3G stake [June 19, 2008]:
Datang Mobile, the second largest stakeholder of T3G, is putting its 32.11 percent stake on sale for 122.2 million yuan, according to a notice posted on the website of Beijing Equity Exchange.
The move comes on the heels of the collapse of Commit Inc, another major TD-SCDMA chipmaker, which has dimmed the prospects of TD-SCDMA.
There are rumors that Geneva-based semiconductor maker STMicroelectronics might take over Datang Mobile’s stake in T3G.
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Commit has had its own share of woes, forcing it to shut shop at the end of April after failing to secure fresh funding and pay its employees for months. Commit’s shareholders include Hyper Market, Texas Instruments, Nokia, LG and State-owned Potevio and Datang Telecom, parent of Datang Mobile.
Industry observers blame Commit and T3G’s woes on the slow roll-out of TD-SCDMA in China.
– ST-Ericsson and China Mobile to Bring TD-SCDMA to the Mass Market [May 26, 2009]:
China Mobile has selected ST-Ericsson’s company in China, T3G, as a major technology partner for the development of its high-end and low-cost handsets, based on the 3G standard TD-SCDMA. ST-Ericsson will also support four of its customers to commercialize their mobile phones during 2009-2010.
Under the agreement, ST-Ericsson, the 50/50 joint venture between Ericsson and STMicroelectronics, will develop a new low-cost platform to support its customers to offer affordable TD-SCDMA devices to the China consumers. ST-Ericsson will also support customers to develop high-end mobile phones, based on existing and new platforms such as the T7210, which will allow consumers to enjoy high-speed broadband and multimedia services.
“Although ST-Ericsson is a recent joint venture, our subsidiary T3G has been actively developing platforms for the mobile standard for more than six years, achieving an impressive record of world firsts in bringing innovation to China,” said Alain Dutheil, President and CEO of ST-Ericsson. “Our dedicated local R&D team, as well as our strong commitment to continuous innovation and close cooperation with customers, will enable China Mobile to offer a broad range of handsets for the mass market as well as for the high-end segment.”
ST-Ericsson’s T7210 mobile platform supports TD-SCDMA dual-band in 2010-2025MHz/1880-1920MHz frequencies, and has successfully completed handovers of voice and high-speed data services in order to operate optimally in Chinese dual-band network environments.
– ST-Ericsson Continues to Drive Innovation in TD Market [Sept 14, 2009]:
ST-Ericsson, a world leader in wireless platforms and semiconductors, and its Chinese subsidiary T3G today announced the industry’s first TD-HSPA modem chip samples in 65nm. This new chip is smaller than existing products, making it easier to implement in mobile devices, and is also designed to reach significantly lower power consumption.
– ST-Ericsson reaches key milestones in China [Nov 27, 2009]:
Confirms clear market leadership in the TD-technology
- Five million TD chipsets shipped
- ST-Ericsson’s solutions power more than 100 models of TD devices, including handsets, data cards and embedded devices
ST-Ericsson, a world leader in wireless platforms and semiconductors, has reached two important milestones, confirming its market leadership in the Chinese homegrown 3G standard, TD-SCDMA. ST-Ericsson, through its Chinese subsidiary T3G, has been leading the innovation in the TD market since 2003, bringing numerous industry firsts.
… Read more at: http://www.stericsson.com/press/Strong_presence_china_English.pdf
– ST-Ericsson to cooperate with China Mobile on TD-LTE [Feb 16, 2010]:
ST-Ericsson, a world leader in wireless platforms and semiconductors, announced today it will cooperate with China Mobile on TD-LTE development and will support a demonstration of TD-LTE at Shanghai World EXPO in 2010.
ST-Ericsson will also actively participate on other TD-LTE projects organized by China Mobile, including trial and interoperability testing (IOT) with infrastructure vendors.
Bill Huang, General Manager of China Mobile Research Institute, said: “China Mobile and ST-Ericsson are co-operating very successfully on TD-SCDMA technology and we are happy to extend our partnership into the TD-LTE area and then multi-mode technologies in future. We share a common goal of creating a global LTE market encompassing both TDD and FDD technologies.”
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ST-Ericsson’s key milestones in LTE:
- In December 2009, ST-Ericsson and Ericsson were first to achieve LTE and HSPA mobility with a multimode device. Read more at www.stericsson.com/press_releases/LTE_HSPA.jsp
- 2009: Fully working LTE chipset available and interoperability testing of the platform with operators
- 2008: Platform interoperability tests activities initiated with network vendors
- 2007: First handheld LTE prototype available and first handheld public demonstration at Mobile World Congress in 2008
- 2004-2005: ST-Ericsson started research and standardization activities related to LTE
– ST-Ericsson launches feature rich mobile internet platform in China – T6718 enables development of cost-effective and power-efficient multimedia TD-HSPA handsets [May 27, 2010]:
The T6718 is the first commercial 65 nanometer-based TD-HSPA platform, enabling manufacturers to quickly produce compact, cost efficient and feature-rich mobile broadband handsets for the Chinese market. ST-Ericsson expects the T6718, which can support downlink speeds of 2.8Mbps and uplink speeds of 2.2Mbps, to be in commercial products from Q3 2010.
… Handsets based on the T6718 platform will be able to deliver up to seven hours of talk-time or 25 days of standby on one battery charge. Incorporating software support for Assisted-GPS (AGPS), the T6718 will also enable location-based services, such as navigation and local search.
The dual mode TD-HSPA/EDGE modem is integrated with an ARM processor to deliver small size, fast response time and low power. This is also the first TD-HSPA solution to take advantage of the additional size and power benefits of the 65 nm process node.
The T6718 delivers a rich Internet experience including fast browsing, streaming video, broadcast television and other multimedia services on a touch-screen display. The 5 Mpixel camera support and video recording capability coupled with the graphics hardware accelerator provide a great visual consumer experience. Furthermore, the T6718 has the lowest power consumption in its class which means more hours enjoying music, video, internet access and talking.
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High performance and low power consumption
- The first commercial 65 nanometer based TD-SCDMA
platform on the market- Talk time up to 7 hours and stand by up to 25 days on one battery charge (standard 1000mAh battery)
- ARM926 processor up to 416 MHz
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