Domestic Vendors Win China Mobile TD-SCDMA Handset Tender
Cbt.com.cn, 7/06/11
China Mobile (NYSE: CHL; 0941.HK) has released a list of winning bidders in its TD-SCDMA handset procurement tender. The tender is for six handset models, approximately 500,000 to 600,000 of each for a total of 3-4 mln units. The orders are divided between Lenovo (0992.HK), ZTE (0763.HK; 000063.SZ), and Huawei, with chips to be supplied by Spreadtrum (Nasdaq: SPRD), Leadcore and MediaTek. Spreadtrum and Leadcore will provide chipsets for two models each, while MediaTek will provide for one, and MediaTek and Leadcore will provide one they have jointly developed.
According to an industry source, the tender is for low-end and mid-range entry-level TD-SCDMA handsets equipped with CMMB mobile phone TV capability slated for launch in Q3 2011. Nearly 100 handset products were offered by over a dozen manufacturers in the bidding. Marvell was among the chipset bidders, but was not selected since its products are aimed at high-end TD-SCDMA handsets.
The source said that overseas handset and chipset makers did not participate in the tender because they are more focused on the low-end and mid-range TD-SCDMA smartphone market, and China Mobile's unit price range was simply too low to attract their interest.
Keywords: China Mobile chipset Lenovo Leadcore handset Spreadtrum procurement wireless 000063.SZ 0763.HK Huawei ZTE CMMB mobile phone TV low-end Marvell MediaTek CHL TD-SCDMA 0992.HK 0941.HK 3G SPRD mid-range
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