QUALCOMM to Acquire Mobile Software and Test Services Provider

QUALCOMM Inc., a developer and innovator of Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and other advanced wireless technologies, announced that it will acquire San Diego-based Qualphone Inc., a provider of IP-based Multimedia Subsystems (IMS) embedded client software solutions for mobile devices and interoperability testing (IOT) services. The acquisition of Qualphone's products and resources will help QUALCOMM further accelerate the delivery of multimedia-capable, feature-rich 3G solutions on top of the emerging IMS and Multi Media Domain (MMD) architectures to WCDMA/UMTS and CDMA2000® markets. Completion of the acquisition is expected later this month.

Qualphone's IMS client platform provides mobile operators with a technical and commercial framework for offering services using a wide range of integrated and interactive media, voice, text, picture and video technologies. Qualphone's 3G/IP multimedia embedded client framework can be tailored to the specific requirements of individual operators and handset manufacturers, and its end-to-end IOT services help reduce time to market. QUALCOMM's acquisition of Qualphone enhances the company's continuing global efforts to provide a highly efficient launch path for new 3G products and services.

“QUALCOMM is strongly committed to enabling 3G wireless for worldwide markets, and this acquisition of Qualphone is another instance of our progress in this direction,” said Sanjay K. Jha, president of QUALCOMM CDMA Technologies. “We look forward to leveraging Qualphone's test service, IMS technology and software development resources to accelerate the delivery of attractive and more feature-rich devices to subscribers in European and other markets.”

“This acquisition is the logical outcome of Qualphone's and QUALCOMM's common goal of simplifying the deployment of 3G services around the world,” said Isaac Eteminan, president and CEO of Qualphone Inc. “We look forward to uniting our efforts in helping subscribers more quickly benefit from the new wireless capabilities of 3G technology.”

Headquartered in San Diego, CA, Qualphone's product and service portfolio includes mobile client framework software, IMS-based client applications and handset IOT services. QUALCOMM will pay approximately $18 M in cash for Qualphone.