A few days ago, Qualcomm was fined $1.2 billion for monopoly allegations involving Qualcomm components and Apple iPhone devices. But the same week, the chipset maker struck a $2 billion deal with Chinese smartphone makers.
Xiaomi, Lenovo and BBK-owned Oppo and Vivo have signed an agreement with Qualcomm to buy Qualcomm components over the next three years. Interestingly, the deal is a non-binding agreement, which means that either party can terminate the agreement at any time if they are not satisfied with the products.
The interesting thing is that the deal does not mention Qualcomm processors, but RFFE components. These components will allow manufacturers to build more complex smartphones on a large scale in the near future.
Qualcomm's RF front-end provides a comprehensive suite of solutions that enables smartphone manufacturers to build more energy-efficient devices while offering advanced products designed for consumers around the world. In addition, Qualcomm solutions save manufacturers time and effort in creating the right design to deliver top-quality performance for their phones.
Qualcomm technologies inc (qti) offers a comprehensive rf front-end (rffe) solution, becoming the first mobile technology provider to contribute to the development and commercialisation of a comprehensive platform from digital modem to antenna array. The latest additions to the Qualcomm® rf360™ rffe product line are Qualcomm Technologies' first gallium arsenide (gaas) power amplifier modules (qpa5460, qpa5461, qpa4360 and qpa4361) and the next-generation Qualcomm® trusignal™ antenna power amplifier solution (qat35xx ) to deliver superior rf performance by leveraging modem intelligence and system-level design and optimization.
With Xiaomi, Lenovo, Vivo and Oppo all showing huge interest in Western markets, with Qualcomm's development help, we can expect to see huge global investments from them.
