Qualcomm buys British firm
Published: 13 Oct 2004 12:45 BST
Cell phone chip maker Qualcomm said on Tuesday it has purchased United Kingdom-based wireless developer Trigenix, in part to bolster Qualcomm's stake in the European cell phone market.
The San Diego company will pay $36m in cash for Trigenix, which supplies many European handset makers and developers with user interfaces for cell phones and the tool kits for creating applications much more complex than usual games or ring tones.
Europe is among the most mature parts of the world's cell phone market, and customers here are far more willing to try newer and more expensive applications, like downloading entirely new messaging programs, than those in the US.
Qualcomm is known primarily for introducing and licensing a rival cell phone standard, CDMA, which is popular with carriers in North America and parts of Asia. Trigenix provides a cross-standard and continental bridge for Qualcomm, among other things. Since June, Trigenix has been working with Qualcomm to develop an interface for Qualcomm's BREW download software, which it could then supply to its dozens of European partners.
"They have all those companies in the GSM arena and can help champion, in particular, Qualcomm's cell phone download software as an alternative to European carriers and handset makers," said Gina Lombardi, Qualcomm's senior vice president of marketing and product management.
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