Qualcomm 2004 Annual Report Download - page 7

Download and view the complete annual report

Please find page 7 of the 2004 Qualcomm annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.

Page out of 86

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24
  • 25
  • 26
  • 27
  • 28
  • 29
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33
  • 34
  • 35
  • 36
  • 37
  • 38
  • 39
  • 40
  • 41
  • 42
  • 43
  • 44
  • 45
  • 46
  • 47
  • 48
  • 49
  • 50
  • 51
  • 52
  • 53
  • 54
  • 55
  • 56
  • 57
  • 58
  • 59
  • 60
  • 61
  • 62
  • 63
  • 64
  • 65
  • 66
  • 67
  • 68
  • 69
  • 70
  • 71
  • 72
  • 73
  • 74
  • 75
  • 76
  • 77
  • 78
  • 79
  • 80
  • 81
  • 82
  • 83
  • 84
  • 85
  • 86

WIRELESS฀BROADBAND฀IS฀OFF฀AND฀RUNNING
Taking฀advantage฀of฀the฀rich฀features฀of฀QUALCOMM’s฀
most฀advanced฀commercial฀high-speed฀data฀technology,฀
South฀Korea฀was฀first฀to฀market฀in฀2002฀with฀wide-area฀
wireless฀broadband฀networks฀based฀on฀the฀CDMA2000฀
1xEV-DO฀solution.฀The฀country’s฀two฀largest฀operators—
SK฀Telecom฀(SKT)฀and฀KT฀Freetel฀(KTF)—have฀seen฀
vigorous฀demand฀for฀multimedia฀services฀and฀have฀
quickly฀achieved฀a฀combined฀total฀of฀more฀than฀฀
10฀million฀subscribers฀to฀their฀high-speed฀networks.
In฀Japan,฀reports฀indicate฀KDDI฀improved฀its฀competi-
tive฀position฀since฀deploying฀the฀new฀service,฀CDMA฀1x฀
WIN,฀experiencing฀a฀four-fold฀increase฀in฀net฀additions฀
to฀its฀subscriber฀base฀relative฀to฀other฀Japanese฀opera-
tors.฀Building฀on฀the฀success฀of฀its฀30-second฀music฀
clip฀service,฀in฀November฀2004,฀KDDI฀began฀offering฀
subscribers฀the฀ability฀to฀down฀load฀full฀songs฀from฀its฀
catalog฀of฀10,000฀tunes.
In฀the฀United฀States,฀Verizon฀Wireless฀began฀its฀nation-
wide฀rollout฀of฀CDMA2000฀1xEV-DO฀this฀year,฀extending฀
coverage฀to฀include฀14฀metropolitan฀markets฀and฀24฀
airports.฀Marketed฀under฀the฀name฀BroadbandAccess,฀
the฀service฀provides฀CDMA-enabled฀laptop฀users฀฀
high-speed฀wireless฀connectivity฀for฀a฀fixed฀fee฀of฀
approximately฀$80฀per฀month.฀Initially฀focused฀primarily฀
on฀business฀users,฀Verizon฀was฀first฀to฀market฀in฀the฀
United฀States฀with฀a฀high-speed฀commercial฀wide-area฀
wireless฀Internet฀service.
Also฀in฀the฀United฀States,฀Sprint฀PCS฀announced฀
deployment฀plans฀for฀CDMA2000฀1xEV-DO฀service฀฀
on฀its฀nationwide฀wireless฀network฀and฀other฀regional฀
operators฀in฀North฀America฀are฀expected฀to฀follow.฀
Elsewhere฀in฀the฀world,฀CDMA2000฀1xEV-DO฀networks฀
have฀been฀commercially฀deployed฀in฀Australia,฀Brazil,฀
the฀Czech฀Republic,฀Guatemala฀and฀Israel,฀and฀a฀
growing฀list฀of฀operators฀are฀planning฀upgrades฀or฀new฀
network฀deployments.฀This฀includes฀China฀Unicom,฀
which฀now฀serves฀more฀than฀28฀million฀CDMA฀
subscribers฀in฀the฀world’s฀largest฀wireless฀market.
CONTINUING฀PROGRESS฀IN฀WORLDWIDE฀MARKETS
Significant฀developments฀on฀regulatory฀issues฀and฀
market฀trends฀occurred฀this฀fiscal฀year฀that฀should฀prove฀
beneficial฀to฀QUALCOMM.฀In฀the฀United฀States,฀imple-
mentation฀of฀local฀number฀portability฀allows฀wired฀and฀
wireless฀subscribers฀to฀transition฀easily฀to฀networks฀that฀
offer฀attractive฀multimedia฀services.฀The฀two฀largest฀
United฀States฀CDMA฀networks,฀operated฀by฀Verizon฀and฀
Sprint,฀posted฀strong฀results฀this฀year,฀demonstrating฀that฀
CDMA฀is฀a฀popular฀choice฀for฀consumers฀and฀businesses.฀
Regulatory฀authorities฀in฀India฀introduced฀unified฀
mobile/fixed฀licenses,฀allowing฀the฀nation’s฀CDMA฀opera-
tors฀to฀extend฀their฀growing฀networks฀and฀to฀support฀full฀
mobility.฀In฀Europe,฀several฀Scandinavian฀countries฀are฀
examining฀the฀use฀of฀CDMA2000฀1xEV-DO฀in฀the฀450฀
MHz฀frequency฀band฀following฀its฀early฀deployment฀in฀
Romania,฀the฀Czech฀Republic฀and฀Russia.฀Other฀opera-
tors฀in฀Latin฀America,฀Africa฀and฀India฀are฀also฀evaluating฀
the฀use฀of฀this฀spectrum฀for฀launching฀3G฀services.฀
In฀China,฀the฀government฀is฀expected฀to฀issue฀up฀to฀
four฀3G฀licenses฀at฀2.1฀GHz.฀These฀licenses฀will฀speed฀
the฀build-out฀of฀several฀networks฀across฀China฀using฀
WCDMA,฀CDMA2000฀and/or฀TD-SCDMA.฀This฀repre-
sents฀a฀dramatic฀growth฀opportunity฀for฀our฀Company฀
and฀our฀industry฀partners฀who฀create฀and฀sell฀CDMA-
based฀products฀and฀services.฀
WCDMA฀IS฀RAPIDLY฀GAINING฀TRACTION฀
QUALCOMM’s฀performance฀this฀year฀was฀greatly฀aided฀
by฀the฀faster฀than฀anticipated฀adoption฀of฀WCDMA.฀We฀
are฀devoting฀significant฀resources฀to฀developing฀WCDMA฀
chipsets฀and฀supporting฀WCDMA฀operators฀worldwide,฀
including฀those฀in฀Europe,฀Asia฀and฀the฀United฀States.฀
Leveraging฀our฀proven฀success฀in฀integrating฀a฀variety฀฀
of฀multimedia฀activities฀into฀our฀CDMA2000฀chipsets,฀฀
we฀have฀established฀ourselves฀as฀a฀significant฀provider฀฀
of฀3G฀WCDMA฀technology฀for฀wireless฀devices.฀We฀have฀
the฀competitive฀advantage฀as฀pioneers฀of฀CDMA฀and฀of฀
sharing฀many฀advanced฀features฀on฀our฀WCDMA฀and฀
CDMA2000฀chipsets.฀A฀key฀development฀activity฀is฀
adding฀High฀Speed฀Downlink฀Packet฀Access฀(HSDPA)฀฀
to฀our฀WCDMA฀chipset฀solution฀to฀support฀the฀need฀฀
฀฀฀฀฀฀QUALCOMM฀฀03
Letter฀to฀Stockholders