Are the handset vendors sitting out WiMax's launch?

For more on Clearwire’s WiMax launch, see Telephony’s The 4G Race topic page

The telecom vendors that gave birth to WiMax in the US are suddenly coming up absent as WiMax takes its first baby steps. This week Nokia confirmed it is scrapping WiMax version of its N810 Internet tablet and, along with it, the only WiMax handheld produced by a major wireless handset vendor.

When Sprint first unveiled its WiMax plans two years ago, it stressed the importance of its vendor ecosystem, which included the three largest global manufacturers of handsets, in seeding the new 4G market with innovative mobile data and computing devices. But so far neither Nokia nor Motorola have produced a single standalone device beyond a modem to support the new Clearwire’s launch, while only Samsung's PC division has released a laptop. Meanwhile the slack has been taken up by the PC manufacturers relying on Intel’s combined radio-processor technology. Acer, Asus, Dell, Fujitsu, Lenovo, Panasonic, Samsung and Toshiba have all promised WiMax-embedded laptops using Intel’s Centrino 2 technology by next quarter. In addition, Clearwire revealed that several other computing device vendors are preparing WiMax-powered handheld computing and Internet devices using Intel’s low-power and ultra-compact Atom platform. Though Clearwire’s network is still in its infancy—only two markets have been commercially launched—it appears that the consumer electronics vendors, rather than traditional wireless handsets, will be taking the initial lead in devices.

Much of that may be due to Clearwire’s strategy rather than specific decisions by the vendors themselves. Clearwire Chief Strategy Officer Scott Richardson said the operator decided not to sell the N810 WiMax edition in its stores because it duplicated many of the functions of less expensive consumer devices already in market, such as the iPod Touch. While those devices may not have WiMax connectivity, Richardson said, they have WiFi. Connecting them to the Clear network is a simple matter of introducing a WiMax router that functions as a pocket hotspot connecting a variety of personal electronics via WiFi to the wide-area WiMax network. Clearwire demonstrated a prototype of such a router at its Portland launch earlier this week.

“The initial goal is to connect the devices our customers already have, not requiring them to go out and buy new devices with WiMax,” Richardson said.