NEC Corp. said it plans to use third-generation chipsets and reference designs from Ericsson Mobile Platforms and Qualcomm Inc., moves that indicate the growing importance of such teamings for 3G services.
NEC said it has built a prototype 3G phone using Qualcomm’s dual-mode GPRS/W-CDMA platform and will offer the device next year to Chinese operators. NEC also said it is developing a handset using Ericsson’s U100 platform GPRS/W-CDMA platform and will introduce the device in the first half of next year. NEC said it will use Ericsson’s platforms in devices for Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. and other 3G operators.
NEC had previously been developing 3G phones using its in-house chips and technology. The move to branch out and use other suppliers is becoming common among 3G phone manufacturers as a way to cut costs and speed time to market. Indeed, Sharp Corp. and Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications recently announced plans to jointly develop hardware and software for NTT DoCoMo’s line of FOMA 3G devices. The companies said they would use DoCoMo’s recently released software reference platform for the effort.
NEC’s phone business has been suffering of late, according to reports.
