Moto to keep Freescale on chip roster

After declaring a strategy of diversity in semiconductor suppliers and signing deals with Texas Instruments Inc. and Qualcomm Inc. for W-CDMA and other chips, Motorola Inc. declared yesterday that it still cherishes its relationship with its spinoff, Freescale Semiconductor.
If in fact the two companies, as rumored, have a current agreement that expires next year, the announcement could amount to a one-year contract extension from 2008 to 2009.
Motorola said yesterday that Freescale would remain a “preferred supplier” of GSM chips for 2G and 3G handsets, specifically for several forthcoming handset designs. The agreement covers baseband, power management, RF transceivers and power amplifier technologies for the new designs. Motorola also is looking to Freescale for “next-generation” EDGE, 3G and multimedia handsets. The announcement did not make clear whether 3G referred to W-CDMA or another technology.
Freescale currently supplies chipsets for Motorola’s Razr, Pebl, Slvr and Krzr models, but whether it is the exclusive supplier was not disclosed. Motorola’s agreements with Texas Instruments and Qualcomm suggest that phones powered by those chip vendors will hit the market next year.