HTC planning to do an Apple, will make its own chips now
OK I didn’t see this coming for HTC. Apparently the Chinese newspaper, China Times seems to have reported that HTC has signed a memorandum of cooperation with ST-Ericsson for developing its own applications processor. These processors will be first installed in cheaper products and will have a low clock cycle (speed). However don’t expect to see devices in the market just as yet, the devices and the chips don’t come in until next year.
One of the reasons for this step has something to do with how Qualcomm misjudged the whole processor development curve to play out. With Qualcomm reporting a delay in supplying the 28mm Krait based S4 chips HTC’s plans can take a severe beating, especially when HTC is one of their long time and oldest of customers.
No wonder then that the One X from HTC uses a Nvidia Tegra 3 processor instead of a S4 processor.
With its own chips, HTC should be able to level the playing field to an extent and speed up product launches and development. Looks like we’re seeing companies engaging in a lot of backward and forward integration… Seems like a new trend!
The deal should also bode well for ST-Ericsson’s balance sheet in the coming few years, since it had taken a hit in the past few quarters.
Source [Google Translate link]
About author:
Aditya Singhvi is the Editor in Chief and the man behind World of Phones. He loves mobile phones and can never get enough of them. He’s known for using too many phones and numbers at the same time. He is absolutely content with having more than 2 cell phones with him.
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