Qualcomm eyes Europe growth via acquisitions: report
Chipmaker Qualcomm wants to expand in Europe via both organic and acquisition-fueled growth, its top man in the region told a German daily in an interview published on Wednesday. Qualcomm Europe President Andrew Gilbert did not specify any regions but told Sueddeutsche Zeitung: "Germany is the biggest telecommunications market in Europe and therefore it is very important to us."
While Qualcomm was looking to grow organically in Europe, it would not pass over acquisitions should the opportunity arise, Gilbert said.
Gilbert also said he was not flustered by Intel Corp's recent purchase of the wireless operations of German chipmaker Infineon.
"The acquisition ... proves we are on the right track with our strategy," he said, adding that the surge in mobile data services would by far have the most growth potential in wireless communication.
Intel in August bought the unit called WLS for $1.4 billion, in an effort to move into the booming smartphone market and cut its reliance on personal computers.
California-based Intel makes the microprocessors that run eight out of 10 personal computers around the world, but it has struggled to get its chips into smartphones.
Buying Infineon's WLS unit raises Intel's stake in the wireless market, but companies such as Qualcomm and Broadcom Corp are competing fiercely to lead in next-generation chips that enable fast downloads of movies, music and other data.
Qualcomm's chipsets are in about a third of overall handsets, but they are in 80 percent of smartphones based on Google Inc's Android software.
(Reporting by Marilyn Gerlach and Nicola Leske; Editing by Hans Peters)
Credit: Reuters
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