Editing Qualcomm (section)

===2G===
====Early history====
In mid-1985, Qualcomm was hired by [[Hughes Aircraft]] to provide research and testing for a satellite network proposal to the [[Federal Communications Commission]] (FCC).<ref name="Mock2005" />{{RP|38}} The following year, Qualcomm filed its first CDMA patent (No. 4,901,307).<ref name="Mock2005" /> This patent established Qualcomm's overall approach to CDMA<ref name="Mock2005" /> and later became one of the most frequently cited technical documents in history.<ref name="BlaxillEckardt2009">{{Cite book |last1=Blaxill |first1=Mark |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JO6kA0hebJIC&pg=PA86 |title=The Invisible Edge: Taking Your Strategy to the Next Level Using Intellectual Property |last2=Eckardt |first2=Ralph |publisher=Portfolio |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-59184-237-8 |access-date=May 7, 2020 |archive-date=August 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200819132954/https://books.google.com/books?id=JO6kA0hebJIC&pg=PA86 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{RP|84}} The project with the FCC was scrapped in 1988, when the FCC told all twelve vendors that submitted proposals to form a joint venture to create a single proposal.<ref name="Mock2005" />{{RP|38}}

Qualcomm further developed the CDMA techniques for commercial use and submitted them to the [[Cellular Telephone Industries Association]] (CTIA) in 1989 as an alternative to the [[time-division multiple access]] (TDMA) standard for second-generation cell-phone networks.<ref name="Mock2005" />{{RP|49}} A few months later, CTIA officially rejected Qualcomm's CDMA standard<ref name="LeiSlocum2013">{{Cite book |last1=Lei |first1=David |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LaJFAAAAQBAJ |title=Demystifying Your Business Strategy |last2=Slocum |first2=John W. |date=August 29, 2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-26802-1 |pages=101 |access-date=May 7, 2020 |archive-date=August 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200819141202/https://books.google.com/books?id=LaJFAAAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> in favor of the more established TDMA standard developed by [[Ericsson]].<ref name="Steinbock2003" /><ref name="bw3">{{Cite news |last=Elstrom |first=Peter |date=June 1, 1997 |title=Qualcomm: Not Exactly An Overnight Success |work=BusinessWeek |url=http://www.businessweek.com/stories/1997-06-01/qualcomm-not-exactly-an-overnight-success |access-date=July 16, 2014 |archive-date=July 14, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714105001/http://www.businessweek.com/stories/1997-06-01/qualcomm-not-exactly-an-overnight-success |url-status=dead }}</ref>

At the time, CDMA wasn't considered viable in high-volume commercial applications due to the near-far field effect, whereby phones closer to a cell tower with a stronger signal drown out callers that are further away and have a weaker signal.<ref name="Mock2005" />{{RP|54–55,62–65}}<ref name="wsjalpha" /> Qualcomm filed three additional patents in 1989. They were for: a power management system that adjusts the signal strength of each call to adjust for the near-far field effect; a "soft handoff" methodology for transferring callers from one cell-tower to the next; and a variable rate encoder, which reduces bandwidth usage when a caller isn't speaking.<ref name="Mock2005" />{{RP|54–55,62–65}}<ref name="wsjalpha" />

====Holy wars of wireless====
After the FCC said carriers were allowed to implement standards not approved by the CTIA, Qualcomm began pitching its CDMA technology directly to carriers.<ref name="Mock2005" /> This started what is often referred to as "the Holy Wars of Wireless", an often heated debate about whether TDMA or CDMA was better suited for 2G networks.<ref name="Mock2005" />{{RP|117–120}} Qualcomm-supported CDMA standards eventually unseated TDMA as the more popular 2G standard in North America, due to its network capacity.<ref name="bw3" />

Qualcomm conducted CDMA test demonstrations in 1989<ref name="Klemens2010" /> in San Diego and in 1990 in New York City.<ref name="thanks" /><ref name="Chen2007" /> In 1990, [[NYNEX|Nynex Mobile Communications]] and [[Ameritech Mobile Communications]] were the first carriers to implement CDMA networks instead of TDMA.<ref name="thanks">{{Cite news |last1=Armstrong |first1=Larry |last2=Therrien |first2=Lois |last3=Coy |first3=Peter |date=August 20, 1990 |title=Bolting from the cellular herd |work=BusinessWeek}}</ref> [[Motorola]], a prior TDMA advocate, conducted CDMA test implementations in Hong Kong and Los Angeles.<ref>{{Cite news |date=November 20, 1990 |title=Motorola Shift On Technology |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/11/20/business/motorola-shift-on-technology.html |access-date=July 17, 2014 |archive-date=September 4, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200904102122/https://www.nytimes.com/1990/11/20/business/motorola-shift-on-technology.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="wsjalpha">{{Cite news |last=Hardy |first=Quentin |date=September 6, 1996 |title=Jacobs's Patter: An Inventor's Promise Has Companies Taking Big Cellular Gamble --- Qualcomm Boss's Innovation In Digital-Phone System Is Problematic – and Late --- Are Claims Hope or Hype? |work=The Wall Street Journal}}</ref> This was followed by a $2 million trial network in San Diego for [[AirTouch|Airtouch Communications]].<ref name="bw3" /><ref name="Chen2007">{{Cite book |last=Hsiao-Hwa Chen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eMfG0kuaL-kC&pg=PA178 |title=The Next Generation CDMA Technologies |date=August 20, 2007 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-0-470-02295-5 |access-date=May 7, 2020 |archive-date=August 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200819061201/https://books.google.com/books?id=eMfG0kuaL-kC&pg=PA178 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{RP|177}} In November 1991, 14 carriers and manufacturers conducted large-scale CDMA field tests.<ref name="bw3" /><ref name="international">{{Cite book |last=Gale Group |url=http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/qualcomm-incorporated-history/ |title=International Directory of Company Histories |date=December 2, 2002 |publisher=St. James Press |isbn=978-1-55862-476-4 |access-date=April 14, 2020 |archive-date=January 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200126075549/http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/qualcomm-incorporated-history/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Results from the test implementations convinced CTIA to re-open discussions regarding CDMA and the 2G standard.<ref name="PhD2010">{{Cite book |last=William A. Cohen, PhD |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CevTu1VbrgEC&pg=PT60 |title=Heroic Leadership: Leading with Integrity and Honor |date=May 24, 2010 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-0-470-40501-7 |page=60 |access-date=May 7, 2020 |archive-date=September 30, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200930070457/https://books.google.com/books?id=CevTu1VbrgEC&pg=PT60 |url-status=live }}</ref> CTIA changed its position and supported CDMA in 1993,<ref name="bw3" /> adopting Qualcomm's CDMA as the IS-95A standard, also known as cdmaOne.<ref name="LemstraHayes2010">{{Cite book |last1=Lemstra |first1=Wolter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-OMoL5Irm08C&pg=PA29 |title=The Innovation Journey of Wi-Fi: The Road to Global Success |last2=Hayes |first2=Vic |last3=Groenewegen |first3=John |date=November 18, 2010 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-139-49257-7 |pages=29 |access-date=May 7, 2020 |archive-date=August 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200819170233/https://books.google.com/books?id=-OMoL5Irm08C&pg=PA29 |url-status=live }}</ref> This prompted widespread criticism in forums, trade press, and conventions from businesses that had already invested heavily in the TDMA standard and from TDMA's developer, Ericsson.<ref name="bw3" /><ref name="PhD2010" />

The first commercial-scale CDMA cellular network was created in Hong Kong in 1995.<ref name="LemstraHayes2010" /> On July 21, 1995, [[Primeco]], which represented a joint venture of [[Bell Atlantic]], [[Nynex]], [[US West]] and [[AirTouch|AirTouch Communications]], announced it was going to implement CDMA-based services<ref name="bw3" /> on networks in 15 states.<ref name="LemstraHayes2010" /> By this time, 11 out of 14 of the world's largest networks supported CDMA.<ref name="bw3" /><ref name="economist">{{Cite news |date=July 29, 1995 |title=Shorts circuited: cellular phones. (US cellular telephone industry backs Qualcomm's code-division multiple access technology) |work=The Economist (US) |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-17388504.html |access-date=July 16, 2014}}{{Dead link|date=May 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> By 1997 CDMA had 57 percent of the US market, whereas 14 percent of the market was on TDMA.<ref name="bw3" />

====International====
In 1991, Qualcomm and the [[Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute]] (ETRI) agreed to jointly develop CDMA technologies for the Korean telecommunications infrastructure.<ref name="Reddick2012">{{Cite book |last=Reddick |first=Christopher G. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r-VVYRvSafYC |title=Cases on Public Information Management and E-Government Adoption |publisher=IGI Global Snippet |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-4666-0982-2 |page=225 |access-date=May 7, 2020 |archive-date=August 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200819211553/https://books.google.com/books?id=r-VVYRvSafYC |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Pacific2004">{{Cite book |last=United Nations. Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N4AQ453g_voC&pg=PA64 |title=Good Practices in Information and Communication Technology Policies in Asia and the Pacific |publisher=United Nations Publications |year=2004 |isbn=978-92-1-120412-4 |pages=64 |access-date=May 7, 2020 |archive-date=August 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200819150515/https://books.google.com/books?id=N4AQ453g_voC&pg=PA64 |url-status=live }}</ref> A CDMA standard was adopted as the national wireless standard in Korea in May 1993<ref name="Mock2005" /> with commercial CDMA networks being launched in 1996.<ref name="Pacific2004" /><ref name="Reddick2012" /> CDMA networks were also launched in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, India, and Venezuela.<ref name="DrakeWilson2008">{{Cite book |last1=Drake |first1=William |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vw2mAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA167 |title=Governing Global Electronic Networks: International Perspectives on Policy and Power |last2=Wilson |first2=Ernest |date=December 5, 2008 |publisher=MIT Press |isbn=978-0-262-30931-8 |pages=167 |access-date=May 7, 2020 |archive-date=August 20, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200820005022/https://books.google.com/books?id=vw2mAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA167 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="HarperBuress2008">{{Cite book |last1=Harper |first1=Alvin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tG3wJZtq8PgC&pg=PA48 |title=Mobile Telephones: Networks, Applications, and Performance |last2=Buress |first2=Raymond |publisher=Nova Publishers |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-60456-436-5 |pages=48 |access-date=May 7, 2020 |archive-date=August 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200819230148/https://books.google.com/books?id=tG3wJZtq8PgC&pg=PA48 |url-status=live }}</ref> Qualcomm entered the Russian and Latin American markets in 2005.<ref name="Mock2005" /> By 2007, Qualcomm's technology was in cell phone networks in more than 105 countries.<ref name="DrakeWilson2008" /> Qualcomm also formed licensing agreements with [[Nokia]] in Europe, [[Nortel]] in Canada, and with [[Matsushita Electric|Matsushita]] and [[Mitsubishi]] in Japan.<ref name="Steinbock2003" />

Qualcomm entered the Chinese market through a partnership with [[China Unicom]] in 2000,<ref name="Steinbock2003" /> which launched the first CDMA-based network in China in 2003.<ref name="HarperBuress2008" /> China became a major market for Qualcomm's semiconductor products, representing more than fifty percent of its revenues,<ref name="reutreur">{{Cite news |last1=Carsten |first1=Paul |last2=Martina |first2=Michael |date=July 24, 2014 |title=China regulator determines Qualcomm has monopoly: state-run newspaper |publisher=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-qualcomm-china-idUSKBN0FT0AU20140724 |access-date=August 7, 2014 |archive-date=December 25, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151225230551/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-qualcomm-china-idUSKBN0FT0AU20140724 |url-status=live }}</ref> but also the source of many legal disputes regarding Qualcomm's intellectual property.<ref name="wsjsj" /> By 2007, $500 million of Qualcomm's annual revenues were coming from Korean manufacturers.<ref name="OhLarson2011">{{Cite book |last1=Oh |first1=Myung |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OZpdqhsPHnQC&pg=PA97 |title=Digital Development in Korea: Building an Information Society |last2=Larson |first2=James |date=March 14, 2011 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-136-81313-9 |pages=97 |access-date=May 7, 2020 |archive-date=August 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200819171647/https://books.google.com/books?id=OZpdqhsPHnQC&pg=PA97 |url-status=live }}</ref>

====Manufacturing====
Initially, Qualcomm's manufacturing operations were limited to a small ASIC design and manufacturing team to support the Omnitracs system.<ref name="Mock2005" /> Qualcomm was forced to expand into manufacturing in the 1990s in order to produce the hardware carriers needed to implement CDMA networks that used Qualcomm's intellectual property.<ref name="Mock2005" /> Qualcomm's first large manufacturing project was in May 1993, in a deal to provide 36,000 CDMA phones to [[US West]].<ref name="Mock2005" /><ref name="Chen2007" />

For a time, Qualcomm experienced delays and other manufacturing problems, because it was inexperienced with mass manufacturing.<ref name="Steinbock2003" /> In 1994, Qualcomm partnered with [[Northern Telecom]] and formed a joint partnership with [[Sony]], in order to leverage their manufacturing expertise.<ref name="Klemens2010" /> [[Nokia]], [[Samsung]] and [[Motorola]] introduced their own CDMA phones in 1997.<ref name="Klemens2010">{{Cite book |last=Klemens |first=Guy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3WNnM7iZF_QC&pg=PA131 |title=The Cellphone: The History and Technology of the Gadget That Changed the World |date=September 9, 2010 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-5996-4 |pages=131–132 |access-date=May 7, 2020 |archive-date=September 2, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200902211015/https://books.google.com/books?id=3WNnM7iZF_QC&pg=PA131 |url-status=live }}</ref> Qualcomm's manufacturing business was losing money due to large capital equipment costs and declining prices caused by competition.<ref name="Klemens2010" /><ref name="BlaxillEckardt2009" /><ref name="Mock2005" /> Also, in March 1997, after Qualcomm introduced its Q phone, Motorola initiated a lawsuit (settled out of court in 2000) for allegedly copying the design of its Startac phone.<ref name="Inc.1997">{{Cite book |last=Ferranti |first=Marc |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MToEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA44 |title=Motorola claims patent infringement by Qualcomm |date=March 24, 1997 |series=InfoWorld |page=44 |access-date=August 9, 2014 |archive-date=August 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200819145722/https://books.google.com/books?id=MToEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA44 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Ferranti |first=Marc |date=March 24, 1997 |title=Motorola claims patent infringement by Qualcomm |work=Infoworld}}</ref>

In December 1999, Qualcomm sold its manufacturing interests to Kyocera Corporation, a Japanese CDMA manufacturer and Qualcomm licensee.<ref name="pike">{{Cite news |last=Wirbel |first=Loring |date=December 22, 1999 |title=Qualcomm sells CDMA phone division to Kyocera |work=Electronic Engineering Times |url=http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1230103 |access-date=July 23, 2017 |archive-date=July 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210714043546/https://www.eetimes.com/qualcomm-sells-cdma-phone-division-to-kyocera/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=December 22, 1999 |title=Qualcomm, Kyocera strike deal for handset business |work=Electronic Engineering Times |url=http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1124095 |access-date=July 23, 2014 |archive-date=July 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210714043535/https://www.eetimes.com/qualcomm-kyocera-strike-deal-for-handset-business/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Qualcomm's infrastructure division was sold to competitor Ericsson in 1999 as part of an out-of-court agreement for a CDMA patent dispute that started in 1996.<ref name="thirteen">{{Cite news |last=Alleven |first=Monica |date=November 29, 1999 |title=Ericsson Tangles With Qualcomm |work=Wireless Week |url=http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/2587634/ericsson-tangles-qualcomm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806135238/http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/2587634/ericsson-tangles-qualcomm |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 6, 2020 |access-date=June 6, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=March 26, 1999 |title=Wireless giants get connected |publisher=The Associated Press |url=http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1291&amp;dat=19990326&amp;id=NVBYAAAAIBAJ&amp;sjid=DY4DAAAAIBAJ&amp;pg=4436,2341517 |access-date=June 5, 2014 |archive-date=February 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224102521/http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1291&dat=19990326&id=NVBYAAAAIBAJ&sjid=DY4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=4436,2341517 |url-status=live }}</ref> The sale of the infrastructure division marked the beginning of an increase in Qualcomm's stock price and stronger financial performance, but many of the 1,200 employees involved were discontented working for a competitor and losing their stock options.<ref name="thirteen" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Alleven |first=Monica |date=May 8, 2000 |title=Qualcomm, Unhappy Employees Try Mediation |work=Wireless Week |url=http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/3106407/qualcomm-unhappy-employees-try-mediation |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806134805/http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/3106407/qualcomm-unhappy-employees-try-mediation |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 6, 2020 |access-date=June 6, 2014}}</ref> This led to a protracted legal dispute regarding employee stock options, resulting in $74 million in settlements by 2005.<ref name="Mock2005" />