Texas Instruments Inc. detailed its plans to push into the cellular chip market based on the CDMA standard, a move that could drive down prices for some celluar phones.

TI dominates the market on the GSM standard chips, which is widely used in Europe and much of Asia, representing 70 percent of handsets worldwide. CDMA, on the other hand, dominates the market in the States, and it's growing in two huge emerging markets, China and India.

The vast majority of CDMA chips are made by Qualcomm Inc. of San Diego. TI has traditionally downplayed the importance of CDMA. TI's entry to the CDMA market will mean lower price on the certain model of cellular over time. Unlike Qualcomm, TI has its own chip factories, so it can make chips at a lower cost. Nevertheless, TI will still have to pay Qualcomm a licensing fee for the CDMA technology.

In a written statement, Qualcomm said that cellphone makers are already using its CDMA chipsets and that the company has worked to reduce expenses for cellphone makers. To get into the CDMA game, TI is sharing technology with Nokia and with a rival chipmaker, STMicroelectronics.  

By: DocMemory
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