Samsung Declines Qualcomm's Offer

In a strategic move to challenge Qualcomm's dominance in the baseband chip market, Samsung, along with Fujitsu, NEC, Panasonic, and NTT DoCoMo, are planning a joint venture. The venture aims to develop baseband chips for smartphones, particularly focusing on 4G technologies like WiMAX and LTE, where Qualcomm has less intellectual property.

Samsung, anticipating the shift from 3G to 4G, initiated the move to avoid relying heavily on Qualcomm's intellectual property, particularly in the area of 3G technology. The company has been working on its own chips for some time to avoid Qualcomm's expensive royalty payments.

Qualcomm, however, continues to demonstrate strong results. Last quarter, the company reported a 34% rise in total revenue, and licensing and royalty fees jumped almost 42%. This success is evident in Qualcomm's recent win in the imminent iPhone 5, a market previously inhabited by Infineon, whose wireless unit was bought by Intel.

NTT DoCoMo will take a majority stake in the proposed joint venture. The joint venture is a significant step for Samsung and other companies, aiming to reduce their reliance on Qualcomm and challenge the American company's dominance in the baseband chip market.

Baseband chips are essential for smartphones as they facilitate signal transmission to network towers. Qualcomm's baseband chips have been used in popular smartphones such as Apple's Verizon iPhone 4 and Motorola Mobility's Droid Bionic.

It's important to note that Qualcomm still has a very strong IP portfolio to leverage. The win in the iPhone lineup is an encouraging sign for possible things to come for Qualcomm.

The Motley Fool owns shares of Apple and Qualcomm. The Motley Fool's newsletter services have recommended buying shares of Apple and Intel, as well as creating a diagonal call position in Intel and a bull call spread position in Apple. Fool contributor Evan Niu owns shares of Apple, but he holds no other position in any company mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy regarding Fool contributor's holdings.

The exact name of the planned joint venture by Samsung and the Japanese companies Fujitsu, NEC, Panasonic, and NTT DoCoMo for developing baseband chips for smartphones was not found in the provided search results. The Motley Fool also has a disclosure policy.