Docomo, Samsung Planning Smartphone Chip Venture

Xi demo area at Docomo

A report from Kyodo cites ‘sources close to the matter’ saying that Docomo is planning to partner with Samsung to “design and develop a chip for regulating wireless signals to be mounted on handsets for the LTE standard.” Other Japanese firms would be included in the alliance, including Fujitsu Ltd., NEC Corp., and Panasonic Mobile Communications Co. The planned cooperation is also being reported by the Nikkei business daily.

Docomo is said to be putting in the majority of capital for the project, amounting to $390 million dollars. Techcrunch noted that the partnership between companies is likely more about self-sufficiency than anything else:

At the heart of their alliance is their need for baseband chipsets. It’s one of the most important components in a phone, as it allows the device to connect and transmit signals to network towers. Qualcomm owns nearly 80 percent of the baseband market, and this hegemonic hold is exactly what the alliance hopes to break free from.

Docomo recently rolled out the first two tablets for its high speed LTE network, with offerings from the afore-mentioned Samsung and Fujitsu. The company has big plans for its Xi service which it claims is ten times faster than its FOMA 3G service.

We’ve reached out to Docomo for comment on the planned partnership, but have yet to receive a reply.