QCOM Chips in Verizon iPhone 4

In a detailed teardown of the new Verizon version of Apple’s iPhone 4, home repair website iFixit revealed yesterday that the device contains CDMA chips manufactured by San Diego-based Qualcomm (Nasdaq: [[ticker:QCOM]]). The device includes both a Qualcomm MDM6600—a “world mode” baseband chip that can support both CDMA and GSM cellular frequencies—and a Qualcomm PM8028 power management chip. Though not unexpected, given Qualcomm’s position as the leading manufacturer of CDMA-capable communications chips, the news suggests that Qualcomm could have an important new customer in Apple, especially if large numbers of AT&T subscribers switch to Verizon in search of better network coverage.

Author: Wade Roush

Between 2007 and 2014, I was a staff editor for Xconomy in Boston and San Francisco. Since 2008 I've been writing a weekly opinion/review column called VOX: The Voice of Xperience. (From 2008 to 2013 the column was known as World Wide Wade.) I've been writing about science and technology professionally since 1994. Before joining Xconomy in 2007, I was a staff member at MIT’s Technology Review from 2001 to 2006, serving as senior editor, San Francisco bureau chief, and executive editor of TechnologyReview.com. Before that, I was the Boston bureau reporter for Science, managing editor of supercomputing publications at NASA Ames Research Center, and Web editor at e-book pioneer NuvoMedia. I have a B.A. in the history of science from Harvard College and a PhD in the history and social study of science and technology from MIT. I've published articles in Science, Technology Review, IEEE Spectrum, Encyclopaedia Brittanica, Technology and Culture, Alaska Airlines Magazine, and World Business, and I've been a guest of NPR, CNN, CNBC, NECN, WGBH and the PBS NewsHour. I'm a frequent conference participant and enjoy opportunities to moderate panel discussions and on-stage chats. My personal site: waderoush.com My social media coordinates: Twitter: @wroush Facebook: facebook.com/wade.roush LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/waderoush Google+ : google.com/+WadeRoush YouTube: youtube.com/wroush1967 Flickr: flickr.com/photos/wroush/ Pinterest: pinterest.com/waderoush/