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| Qualcomm enters the 5G infrastructure market |
Qualcomm announced on Tuesday that it will produce chips for 5G communications network devices. This is the first time that a large American technology company has entered a market dominated by European and Chinese companies.
Qualcomm is the largest provider of cell phone chips in San Diego, including: modem chips that connect mobile phones to modern fifth-generation wireless data networks, and which have a higher speed advantage over 4G LTE networks. However, the market for 5G base stations and other infrastructure bought by telecom companies is dominated by companies like Nokia, Ericsson and Huawei, and the US government is taking measures to prevent them from acquiring semiconductors. .
Qualcomm does not intend to directly challenge these competitors, but with changes in 5G base station technology, it has become a potential chip resource for these and other companies.
Today's 5G base stations are similar to old cell phones: a company designs the entire device, then orders custom chips and develops custom software. However, when Qualcomm started supplying smartphone-ready chips, the smartphone space saw explosive growth, and Google's Android OS enabled hundreds of smartphone manufacturers to start by combining their devices. (Qualcomm Android). market.
Qualcomm President Cristiano Amon said: The fifth generation of base station 5G is now showing a similar trend. Companies like Microsoft and Microsoft are working hard to write software to run a "virtual" 5G station. Qualcomm hopes to be able to supply existing and newcomer manufacturers with chips for these terminals.
"I think we are studying the benefits of the next generation of infrastructure," Amon said in an interview with Reuters. "You don't have to worry about old products before designing from scratch," he added.