Samsung moves to reduce Qualcomm reliance

By Kim Yoo-chul

By expanding component procurement channels Samsung Electronics is lowering its dependency on U.S.-based telecommunication chip giant Qualcomm in a similar manner to Apple cutting its dependency on Samsung.

As a critical partner, San Diego-based Qualcomm has been paid multi-billion dollars for telecom chipsets used in a variety of Samsung’s electronic devices, a company official said.

But a surge in smartphones equipped with advanced long-term evolution (LTE) technologies convinces Samsung to internalize its own capability of handling LTE-based chipsets.