As Qualcomm, ST-Ericsson, MediaTek and China-based IC design houses have offered cheap Android-compatible IC solutions for China-based smartphone vendors, many entry-level Android smartphones will be available selling below US$100 in the China market in 2011, according to Taiwan-based makers.
The other IC designers offering such solutions include Taiwan-based Infomax Communication and China-based HiSilicon Technologies and Fuzhou Rockchip Electronics, the sources indicated.
Android smartphone ICs priced at US$8-15 are estimated to lead to total PCB assembly costs of US$30-50, factory makers' quotes of US$70-80 and finally retail prices of less than US$100 for a smartphone, the sources analyzed.
Qualcomm's and ST-Ericsson's offering of such inexpensive IC solutions is to prevent MediaTek from dominating the market segment. MediaTek's Android 2.1 MT6516 platform has won adoption by many China-based smartphone vendors and will it offer the 3.5G Android MT6573 platform in the second quarter of 2011, the sources noted.
Qualcomm has the competitive advantage of being able to most quickly update IC designs to Android versions due to its close cooperation with Google, whereas MediaTek gains the upper hand in terms of cooperation with China-based handset designers and vendors, the sources indicated.
http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20101130PD209.html
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