Samsung No Longer Exclusively Qualcomm, Will Use Infineon Chips, Too

Samsung has announced that it will be adding mobile chipsets from Infineon for its mobile handsets in order to have a second source. Samsung previously relied wholly on Qualcomm for its chipsets, and is using the shift to reduce costs, and also as leverage in future negotiations with Qualcomm.

Qualcomm holds many patents for CDMA and 3G technologies, and has been taken to court before for its allegedly unfair pricing structure. Samsung states that Infineon chipsets come at a 20% discount versus Qualcomm's, but at the same quality standards. The move will also have repercussions throughout the industry as other manufacturers look to possibly move away from Qualcomm's chipsets.