Motorola, Siemens to jointly develop UMTS platform and handsets

Motorola and Siemens today said they would collaborate on development of Siemens’ universal mobile telecommunications system handsets using Motorola’s i.300 Innovative Convergence 3G platform.

The first Siemens UMTS handsets based on the i.300 platform are scheduled to be available in “early 2004.” To prepare Siemens’ customers for “seamless adoption” of the new technology, Motorola’s personal communications sector will provide Siemens with its first 3G handsets beginning in fourth quarter 2002.

The first device that Siemens plans to bring to market will be based on Motorola’s A820 handset, which combines high-speed voice, data and video capabilities with a camera, MP3 player, downloadable ring tones, games and Bluetooth wireless technology. The A820 is based on technology from which the i.300 platform is being developed, according to Motorola.

The deal represents an important win for Motorola, said Pete Shineyda, corporate vice president and general manager of the company’s wireless and broadband systems group. Nearly a year ago, Motorola decided to merge its “entire communications assets,” both equipment and semiconductor, to develop what he called a “merchant market strategy” designed to provide customers with complete end-to-end solutions.

“Though we have had some wins in the past, this is the first Tier 1 win for this strategy,” Shineyda said. It's a further validation that our business model makes sense, not just for Tier 2 accounts but even for Tier 1s.”

The collaboration is also noteworthy in that it will produce a fully integrated dual-mode UMTS solution, said Shineyda. “Today you have some solutions that are GSM and wideband CDMA solutions, discrete and separate solutions,” he said. “You can provide so-called UMTS functionality by forced [integration]. In other words, you could bring a chipset into a phone with a pretty large plastic package. Our solution architecturally accomplishes both GSM and wideband CDMA.”

Though the first product from the combined effort will carry the Siemens brand, Motorola remains committed to its own brand, said Mike Zafirovski, PCS president. “We have been investing substantially in our brands, so we certainly are committed to the Motorola brand,” he said. “We view this frankly as a great way to leverage and accelerate the development of 3G. The two companies are very independent of each other.”

Zafirovski added that Motorola entered into the deal with Siemens partly because the company did not view itself as “being powerful enough to be driving the evolution of 3G on our own.”