 Cha Young-koo, president of Qualcomm Korea, says the U.S. chipmaker will decide whether to build an R&D center in Korea or India by the end of the year. / Korea Times Photo by Shim Hyun-chul |
Staff Reporter
Qualcomm has flourished in a productive partnership with South Korean electronics companies, which used the U.S. chipmaker’s technology to emerge as world-beaters in mobile phones.
Cha Young-koo, the newly seated president of Qualcomm’s Korean unit, says that the company’s relationship with the likes of Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics would only evolve, with the advancement in wireless technologies and networks creating demand for its chips over a broader range of devices.
The San Diego-based chipmaker also believes that Korea’s developed mobile industry could be a source for innovation, and such thinking could result in a research and development (R&D) center here, Cha said in a recent interview with The Korea Times.
Qualcomm, a chip vendor that represents an intellectual property business in its purest form, does much of its research work in the United States. However, in recent years the company has been increasingly looking to tap Asian engineering talent.
Qualcomm already has an R&D center running in China. The company will decide by the end of the year whether it needs another one in Asia, and Korea and India are currently talked about as the main candidate sites, Cha said.
The company is currently exploring the possibilities for joint research projects with the country’s leading tech schools, including Seoul National University, Yonsei University, Korea University and Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST).
The predominant focus will be developing new technologies for multimedia software and applications, Cha said.
It remains to be seen, however, whether Qualcomm’s decision on the potential R&D center, and its level of investment in it, will be affected by Korea’s antitrust agency fining the company a record $209 million on Thursday for discriminating against local companies using rival products.
“Asian countries have great assets of talent, and the company thinks that the Korean industry and engineers have competitive advantages in certain areas,” Cha said.
Should Qualcomm decide to build its R&D center in Korea, the center will be fully operating by 2011, Cha said.
“We are in the process of receiving proposals from the schools, and we will have a blueprint in the next few months on what the Korean R&D would be devoted to. The Gyeonggi provincial government has also expressed an interest,” he said.
“We are expecting a decision from San Diego by the end of the year, and there will be many things to be considered, including research conditions and the capacity and skill level of local engineers.”
In a May interview with The Korea Times, Paul Jacobs, Qualcomm’s chief executive, said the company has no confirmed plans for a Korean R&D center, although it is exploring investment opportunities here through its venture capital arm, Qualcomm Ventures.
Cha said the number of Korean high-tech firms considered for the Qualcomm Ventures project has been narrowed to three. Qualcomm will pick one or two from the candidates by the end of the month, and finalize its level of investment, which could be as much as $5 million, by sometime during October.
The company has been using Qualcomm Ventures to invest in start-ups involved in CDMA, mobile Internet and other wireless technologies. Cha declined to reveal the names of the three Korean candidates, but said the companies are involved in computer graphics for mobile devices, 3D display chips and audio solutions.
“The company could add another two or three Korean start-ups in their Qualcomm Ventures funding projects in the next year or two,” Cha said. Qualcomm grew as one of the most influential companies in the high-tech world through its code division multiple access (CDMA) mobile-phone technology that became the underlying standard for third generation (3D) communications.
Some industry watchers expect Qualcomm to compromise some of its technology dominance once the transition is made to the 4G era. However, Cha claims that the advancement in telecommunications would be an opportunity for Qualcomm to provide its chips and solutions to a broader range of devices, from phones and laptop computers to televisions and thermometers.
“There will only be more and more wireless devices, and what company is in a better position than Qualcomm to take advantage of it?” Cha said. With wireless connectivity required in virtually every device, whether in handsets, computers or consumer electronics products, chipmakers that have so far been separated in different industry segments are coming to blows.
Qualcomm’s new microprocessor chip, Snapdragon, is considered its biggest offensive against Intel, the computer chip giant. Snapdragon, targeted for smart phones, laptops and other mobile Internet devices, guzzles less power than similar chips by Intel.
Cha said Samsung and LG are currently in the process of developing Snapdragon-based computing devices, although the Korean electronics companies couldn’t give their targeted time for release.
Toshiba, the Japanese electronics maker, recently introduced a smart phone using a Snapdragon chip, while Taiwan’s Wistron showcased a Snapdragon “netbook,” or book-sized laptop.
“The interest in Snapdragon in Korea is in the early stages, as local companies are relying more on the technologies provided by IBM,” said a Qualcomm Korea official.
thkim@koreatimes.co.kr
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