"Echoing similar security concerns to those in the United States and other Western countries, the report * * * specifically mentioned the potential for spyware to be inserted into the telecom equipment that even operators would be unable to locate.
"The arguments over competition and security were closely entwined, with the report saying that still higher reliance on Chinese firms if EU firms went out of business would increase the risk.
Qulacomm has "a $105 billion market capitalization that recently topped Intel Corp.'s INTC +0.10% as the biggest in the semiconductor sector. Not all gambles have paid off. A mobile broadcast service called MediaFlo and Mirasol, a display designed for viewing in direct sunlight, didn't pan out. And while Apple uses Qualcomm's wireless chips, it prefers to design its own mobile processors.
consecutive paragraphs:
"WSJ: Not all your bets have paid off. You've decided to license the Mirasol technology to other companies rather than manufacture the displays.
"Mr Jacobs: We got into the manufacturing just to catalyze that market. We always intended eventually to move to a licensing model. The technology we have today isn't ready to be the main display of a smartphone or a tablet. We have that technology in development. That will come out over the next couple of years.
"WSJ: So you might sell your factory?
"Mr Jacobs: We might sell, partner, there's a bunch of different options on the table.
"WSJ: Your Snapdragon chips, which combine a processor with communications, have been popular. What happens if the two biggest smartphone makers—Apple and Samsung—keep making their own stand-alone processor chips?
"Mr Jacobs: We're hopeful that the companies not using our processors will [eventually] want to use them. If that doesn't happen, that's not such a good thing. But other companies aren't doing that, and certainly the rest of the industry isn't investing in the processor area.
Note:
(a) The CEO, Paul Jacobs, earned BS (1984), MS (1986), and PhD (1989) all from UC Berkeley.
(b) base station http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/base_station
(photos)
(c) Paul's father is Irwin (Jacobs). The Northern Irish/Scottish/English surnames Irwin/Irvin ultimately are derived from "Old English Eoforwine, composed of the elements eofor ‘wild boar’ + wine ‘friend.’"
Dictionary of American Family Names. Oxford University Press.