Emergence of QualSoft
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
The Register has an indepth analysis of the Qualcomm Microsoft partnership deal. They examine several aspects of it but the focus is more on the threat to Nokia and repurcussions for Intel. The WinTel partnership has seen both Microsoft and Intel established a firm footing on the desktop market. But of late they have been pursuing different markets; Intel hedgeing its bets on WiMAX and Microsoft pushing its Mobile Windows Platform.
Nokia on the other hand is a growing threat to both Qualcomm and Microsoft. By intrducing Linux and pushing its Symbian OS on its handsets, it is enabling the transistion of enterprise software from the workstation to the mobile. The high end smartphones are the next battlefield and for Microsoft it is essential to break into the market to retain its dominant position. But right now Windows Mobile still lags behind by quite a lot in the mobile OS market.
Nokia has also risen up against the monopolistic policies of Qualcomm with respect its CDMA based patents and chipsets solutions. To bring down the cost it started manufacturing its own chipsets under license from Qualcomm, much to QC's displeausre. For QC the threat is larger because of the 3G networks converging on OFDM as their preferred Air Interface technology. In response QC has acquired Flarion Networks and has started using FUD against WiMAX leveraging on its patents. Its gameplan is to push its own propreitary Flash OFDM so as to preserve its royalties in a changed world.
Both QC and MS need a strong partnership to break into the markets they see as the future. QC has been on the forefront of Wireless Technology for over a decade now and along with Microsoft they can bring the familiar look and feel to mobile handsets as well. The resultant QualSoft is just the begining of another monopolistic giant.
Previous Post: Microsoft Qualcomm Partnership.
Further Reading: The Next Battlefeild.
Tags: QC MS Nokia Intel WiMAX OFDM
Nokia on the other hand is a growing threat to both Qualcomm and Microsoft. By intrducing Linux and pushing its Symbian OS on its handsets, it is enabling the transistion of enterprise software from the workstation to the mobile. The high end smartphones are the next battlefield and for Microsoft it is essential to break into the market to retain its dominant position. But right now Windows Mobile still lags behind by quite a lot in the mobile OS market.
Nokia has also risen up against the monopolistic policies of Qualcomm with respect its CDMA based patents and chipsets solutions. To bring down the cost it started manufacturing its own chipsets under license from Qualcomm, much to QC's displeausre. For QC the threat is larger because of the 3G networks converging on OFDM as their preferred Air Interface technology. In response QC has acquired Flarion Networks and has started using FUD against WiMAX leveraging on its patents. Its gameplan is to push its own propreitary Flash OFDM so as to preserve its royalties in a changed world.
Both QC and MS need a strong partnership to break into the markets they see as the future. QC has been on the forefront of Wireless Technology for over a decade now and along with Microsoft they can bring the familiar look and feel to mobile handsets as well. The resultant QualSoft is just the begining of another monopolistic giant.
Previous Post: Microsoft Qualcomm Partnership.
Further Reading: The Next Battlefeild.
Tags: QC MS Nokia Intel WiMAX OFDM
