Qualcomm crows about Sagem W-CDMA deal

Sagem Communication signed a royalty-bearing agreement with Qualcomm Inc. to make and sell W-CDMA handsets worldwide at the latter’s “standard rate,” Qualcomm announced.
The deal represents another customer win for Qualcomm, which competes with other W-CDMA intellectual property holders in the high-growth 3G space. It was not immediately clear how Sagem will use Qualcomm’s W-CDMA technology. Qualcomm’s “standard rate” is generally believed to be 5% of the wholesale cost of each phone sold.
Sagem, the mobile phone arm of French Safran Group, has resurrected its fortunes this year.
Last year, well-publicized speculation that Motorola Inc. might acquire the floundering French handset maker subsequently led Safran Group’s chairman to publicly declare that the company was not for sale. In March, Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications L.P. said it would employ Sagem as an original device manufacturer for GSM, GPRS and EDGE-based phones for emerging markets. In April, Sagem and Vodafone Group plc signed a deal for an “extra slim” Vodafone-branded, GSM handset for Vodafone’s worldwide markets. That handset is due on the market this month. Vodafone also has contracted with Chinese handset maker Huawei for carrier-branded, low-cost 3G phones.