Telephony's informal poll of chipset makers reveals handset makers will be hard-pressed to release a Long Term Evolution (LTE) handset by 2010.
Most of the first-generation LTE platforms will sample this year and begin shipping in 2010, and nearly all of them are designed for laptop computing in USB dongles and PC cards.
Dominant 3G chip supplier Qualcomm said a Qualcomm-backed LTE handset isn't likely to come about in 2010. Qualcomm is only making dual-mode platforms-integrating LTE and either HSPA or EV-DO in the same chipset. Hance, its products will be out later than single-mode LTE products. Qualcomm's schedule calls for data card chipsets to be sampled this quarter, while handset chipsets will be sampled in the middle of 2010.
For more:
- see Telephony [1]
Related articles:
LTE network growth [2] will outpace phone availability
ZTE plans major smartphone push [3] in U.S. market
Links:
[1] http://telephonyonline.com/wireless/news/long-term-evolution-network-speculation-0512/index1.html
[2] http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/lte-network-growth-will-outpace-phone-availability/2009-03-25
[3] http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/zte-plans-major-smartphone-push-u-s-market/2009-03-17